


Two Prodigies at Seigaku

by Emerald_Time



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-15 01:58:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1286953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emerald_Time/pseuds/Emerald_Time
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryoma, a tennis prodigy is about to meet with his rival, she is transferred to Seigaku at the same time as him. They both meet and sparks fly, but what kind of sparks? These two have more in common then than they know. Two rivals, two tennis prodigies, two friends that will be at each other's throats, or will they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or Prince of Tennis. Also the first couple of dialogues are from the subbed anime directly, I do not own that either.
> 
> BTW: This starts in Episode 2: Samurai Junior
> 
> "Talking"
> 
> 'Thinking'

'My first day at Seishun Gauken,' mused a boy. He was 4'7"; he had raven black hair with a blue tint, he wore the standard uniform, he had a long black braid going over the right side of his shoulder and was carrying a dark blue tennis bag. He had sapphire blue eyes, slanted like a cat's. He walked to the tennis courts; there he saw two older boys and four younger boys.

"Hey. You there, are you going to join our tennis club?" the one with a green headband asked.

"Hello," three boys said, while the tall raven-haired one just stood silently.

'This might be interesting,' he thought.

"I'm Katsuo Mizuno, a freshman," said the tallest boy.

"Kachiro Katou, freshman," said the boy standing to Katsuo's right.

"I am Horio Satoshi. I am honored to be able to join a tennis club as renowned as Seigaku's. I have two years of tennis experience," said the brown haired boy. 'Hmm, he looks like a bragger,' the boy observing them thought.

"You over there, what's your name?" asked the older boy in the blue jacket and sweatpants. The boy, who had yet to introduce himself, only stared at him.

"Bastard, can't you hear me!"

His friend put a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay…" Turning to the three boys, " We know of a good game, want to try it?"

"Game?" Horio asked.

The two older boys nodded, they went inside the court, on one side he put down a can, "The rules are simple, you serve from over there and try to hit the can in 10 tries, the prize money is ¥10,000. However, there is a ¥200 fee per person. So, what do you say?"

"¥10,000?" Horio said excitedly.

"Of course we'll do it," the other two replied.

The first boy, who was observing, walked out of the building's shadow and stood outside of the court, near the boy who was leaning on the fence.

Kachiro went first; his balls (AN: Tennis balls you perverts!) went nowhere near the can.

Katsuo went next; it was the same as Kachiro's try.

"Man, you guys are terrible," Horio, commented.

"Well what do you expect? We've never played tennis before!" Katsuo said.

"Horio, with two years of tennis experience will now try his hand," Horio said, while raising his racket into the air.

He walked out onto the court, "¥10,000 is mine!" His first two balls missed, "It's not supposed to go like this. This time for sure!" He picked up another ball and served, most of his balls missed. "Oh no…"

"Oi, one more try!" Called the guy with the headband.

"It only takes one," Horio said, this time the ball hit it, but the can didn't fall. "Iie, I couldn't do it. Looks like we're out ¥200."

The three boys reached into their pockets and pulled out ¥200, holding their hands out to the two older boys.

"Huh? Perhaps you misunderstood," said the one wearing sweatpants.

The one wearing a green headband kneeled down and picked up the can, showing the three boys the label, "Knock the can down serve game, ¥500 per ball, ¥200 tryout fee extra, and together, it's ¥5200 per person."

"What! We don't have that kind of money!"

The older boys shrugged, "Blame it on your bad skills."

They turned to the kids by the fence, "Hey, chibis over there. Too scared to try?" asked the guy wearing the green headband.

"Let's get this over with," the two boys replied at the same time. They looked at each other. They both shrugged their shoulders and took out a racket.

"Guys, don't do it. You're wasting good money, you'll never hit it," said Horio.

The two boys took their positions on the court. "Cheaters, there is no way a regular serve will knock it over," said the boy holding a blue racket.

"You can't knock it down if you went directly at the can," said the one with the red racket.

"What are you two talking about?" asked the guy with the headband.

"There are rocks inside," answered the guy with the blue racket. They could see the two older guys start to sweat.

The guy with the red racket served, the ball hit the top of the can with pinpoint accuracy. The boy looked at the other boy on the court next to him. The guy with the blue racket served. He hit the can and made a dent in its side, making the can roll away.

"Ahhh! The senpais are cheating," Horio shouted.

"That's so dirty," agreed Katsuo and Kachiro nodded.

"Shut up! What does a newcomer know? It was just a fluke, that's all," said the boy with the green headband.

The two boys started serving balls, one after another, repeatedly hitting the can. "If I hit the can a hundred times will you give me a million yen?" Said the boy with the red racket.

"What about two million?" asked the boy with the blue racket.

"S…Sugoi control…" said the three standing on the side.

"How dare you use that tone with an upperclassman," shouted the guy with the headband.

"Just because you were born a year earlier doesn't mean you can cheat those younger than you," said the boy with the blue racket.

The two older guys started walking towards the two boys, a tennis ball hit the can, and the can hit the door of the tennis court. The two older boys stopped.

"Oh, I hit it," said a tall guy wearing a yellow shirt and blue sweatpants, "Lucky!"

"Oh, the guy from before," said Horio.

He came to stand behind the two seventh graders, "Hey hey, Arai. Just because the seniors aren't here doesn't mean you can bully the freshmen. You won't either."

Arai, the guy wearing the headband, nodded, "You know, I actually have to go do something."

"Yeah, me too," said his friend. They both quickly ran off.

The two boys in front of the tall guy made to move but his voice stopped them, "Hey, who said you two could go?"

Two girls came, one with a yellow tennis bag and the other with two pigtails holding the first girl's arm.

"Ryoma-kun, it is you," said the first girl. The boy holding the red racket looked up. "So cool," said the second girl to the first, "Sakuno, who is this? Introduce him."

Sakuno, the first girl, said, "Oh, this is Ryoma Echizen-kun, Tomo-chan."

The two unnoticed adults standing behind the two girls looked interested, "Ryoma…. Echizen…" said the man.

"Heh, so you're Ryoma Echizen. Much smaller than I thought…"said the guy still standing behind Ryoma and the boy with the blue racket.

"Who are you," Ryoma asked both the older boy and the boy beside him.

"Sophomore, Takeshi Momoshiro," Momoshiro looked toward the other boy.

The boy just smiled, "You'll find out soon enough."

Momoshiro looked curious, but he needed to know about something else, so he let it go, "I heard from the grandma coach that you can use the twist serve?"

"Really? Twist Serve?" Horio asked, shocked.

"What's a Twist Serve," Kachiro asked.

"Is it awesome," asked Katsuo.

"What about it," asked Ryoma.

"I'll crush you. Have to do it before you start to bud," Momoshiro said.

Ryoma glared, the unnamed boy looked interested.

~o0o~

"Which?" Momoshiro said.

"Smooth." Momoshiro spun the racket.

"Which?" said Kachiro.

"Smooth?" said Katsuo.

"Geez, this is why I don't like beginners. That is a tennis term used to determine who serves first. If the grip faces right side up, it is called smooth. If it is upside down, it's rough," explained Horio.

"Too bad, it's rough, but I'll let you have the first serve."

"Demo, Momoshiro-senpai, don't you want to serve first? You won the toss," said Horio.

"I want to see the Twist Serve right away."

"M… Momoshiro-senpai, you're so cool," said Horio, Kachiro, Katsuo and the unnamed boy, all rolled their eyes.

"You guys can call me Momo."

"Iie, I can't call you Momo. Demo, can I be the chair judge?" said Horio.

"Oh, go ahead."

Horio rushed towards the chair, "Err… and now… The game between Momoshiro-senpai and Ryoma Echizen will begin. The referee will be me, Horio, who has two years of tennis experience…"

The three boys on the side looked at Horio, "Horio is a very pretentious person," said Katsuo to the two other boys. They both nodded.

"Forget about all that and start the game," shouted Tomo.

Horio flinched a little, "So now, the best of one set match. Echizen to serve," he announced.

Ryoma got ready; he placed his feet into position and served. The ball went straight across and it bounced on the ground and hit the fence behind Momo.

"Fault," Horio called out.

"Yes, yes. Ryoma-sama is so cool," Tomo exclaimed.

"Wait, that was a fault, so he has to serve again. If he faults again, it's a point for Momoshiro-kun. Isn't that right Inoue-san," said the older female.

"Hai, Shiba, that's correct," said the man on her right, Inoue.

"Really? Ryoma-sama…" said Tomo sadly.

"But that serve was really fast," said Kachiro.

"I don't want slice serves. Don't hold out on me, show me the the Twist Serve," said Momo.

"Yada," said Ryoma.

"Arrogant brat."

Ryoma started bouncing the ball with his left hand. "Twist… Serve…?" said Sakuno, unsure.

Ryoma threw the ball into the air and hit it with his racket, Momo saw the ball coming, raising his racket, the ball bounced, it hit the racket and knocked it out of Momo's hand.

The people at the sidelines gasped. The unnamed boy carefully observed the whole game.

'So, Ryoma's a lefty like me huh?'

"Time out!" Momo said.

"Eh?"

"I quit. It's over. I'll let you go now."

"Doesn't matter to me," said Ryoma walking away. He put his racket in his bag, "Sugoi, Ryoma-kun," said Kachiro.

"You were amazing," complimented Katsuo.

"Echizen, which club did you train at?" asked Horio.

"Temple, where did that boy go?" Ryoma asked.

"Huh? Oh, him! I don't know, he was here just a second ago," said Horio.

Tomo and Sakuno came up to Ryoma, "Wait, Tomo-chan!"

Ryoma and the other three boys looked at the two girls.

"Good to make your acquaintance. My name is Tomoka Osakada, call me Tomo; I am friends with Sakuno Ryuzaki. Nice to meet you," said Tomo.

"Ohayo, Ryoma-kun," said Sakuno, "I'm sorry about last time."

"Sakuno Ryuzaki…? Who is that?" asked Ryoma with confusion in his voice.

Sakuno's eyes widened, "Who is that? You don't remember me? I'm...shocked."

~o0o~

Walking into his class, he saw everyone chatting and relaxing. Sitting down at the back of the class, he decided to take a nap. The door opened, this time admitting the four boys from the courts. The raven looked up, he caught the eye of the boy standing in front of the group. The boy had raven-black hair with a green tint, and slanted green-brown eyes. The two boys stared at each other, neither willing to look away. The brown haired boy behind him put a hand on his shoulder, the boy looked away. The first boy put his head back down and fell into a light sleep.

_**SLAM** _

The teacher slid open the door harshly, "SETTLE DOWN! STAND IN A LINE AT THE FRONT OF THE ROOM!"

Everyone rushed to the front, the teacher called role while sitting everyone in alphabetical order. 'Ryoma Echizen, huh?' mused the boy.

'Kage Higurashi, his name means shadow,'' mused Ryoma, two seats across from him.

~o0o~

~Lunch~

'Might as well go to the roof, I don't want to eat, not that hungry anyways.' Kage walked up the stairs to the roof. He walked to the edge of the roof and sat down. Bringing out a  _Ponta,_ he opened it and took a sip. Feeling a little drowsy, he slowly fell back, closing his eyes and enjoying the sun on his body.

The door to the roof opened, Ryoma walked on to the roof. He saw the boy, Kage, lying at the edge of the roof along with the can of  _Ponta_  at his side.

He walked over and lay down next to him, Kage opened one eye; he studied the boy lying across from him.

"Ryoma Echizen, ne? Play any tennis?" Kage's soft voice floated over to him, Kage knew that Ryoma played tennis and he knew that Ryoma knew that he played tennis; it was just a greeting of sorts. Ryoma looked over at the boy next to him, "Hai, Kage Higurashi, hm, do you?"

"Hai," came the short reply. Ryoma closed his eyes; they both fell into a light sleep.

The bell rang, jerking the two out of their sleep; groans came from the two boys. Kage was the first to open his eyes, looking at the time, he realized there were two minutes left to get to class. He shook Ryoma's shoulder, "Come on you, we have two minutes to get to afternoon classes!"

Ryoma's eyes shot open at the mention of class, "Thanks," he muttered.

"No problem, let's go," said Kage.

They quickly got up, their bags were already in the classroom so they didn't have to carry anything; they ran down the stairs and made it into the class just as the bell rang.

Soon the dismissal bell rang and everyone hurried out of the classroom.

~o0o~

"I'm home," called Kage.

"Ah, Kagome, welcome back," said Ai Higurashi, "How was your first day of school?"

"It was fine, kaa-san."

"Did you join the tennis team?"

"Iie, the juniors and seniors were not there, so registration starts tomorrow."

"I still don't get why you want to go as a boy," said Ai.

"Have you seen the short skirt the girls have to wear? They come up till here," said Kagome, putting her hand on her upper thigh indicating the length.

"I would look like a slut! Plus, the boy's tennis team is way better than the girls, the girls can hardly play a decent game, and against the boys, they can barely score a point much less a set or even a game," said Kagome like it was obvious.

"They can't be that bad…" Ai trailed off uncertainly, her daughter was making it seem like they had no skills at all.

Kagome scoffed, "Kaa-san, I watched them play, most girls are only playing because they want to be recognized by the boys. They have no talent, the only talent they have, that I have seen, is the talent to squeal," said Kagome making a face at remembering Tomoka, she didn't like girls who only squealed over talented and cute boys because they think they're in love.

Sakuno was okay, she was a little too shy for her taste but she didn't squeal like a pig every time something went in her favorite player's favor. She sighed; her ears had hurt from Tomoka's squealing and then the teacher's shouting in the classroom.

"Alright, I understand. Did you meet any of the other tennis players?"

Kagome smiled, "Kaa-san, I'm glad we came to Japan, I think I may have found someone that is the same level as me."

"Well, that's good. You have great skill in tennis, why don't you rest," said Ai.

Kagome nodded then yawned, "All right kaa-san."


	2. Chapter 2

~Morning Tennis Practice~

Ryoma entered the courts wearing his usual white cap and jersey. "Oi, Echizen!" Horio, Katsuo, and Kachiro ran up to where he was standing. Ryoma looked up. "Oh, it is you," said Horio.

"Yeah, we thought that Kage was you at first, because of the hat," said Kachiro, pointing towards a guy wearing a black cap, Katsuo nodded, agreeing with his friend's statement.

Ryoma looked at the boy. He was wearing a similar jersey like his, except where his was white, the boy's shirt was black and where his was red, the boy's was blue. He also wore black shorts and a black hat. The boy turned around, "Kage," said Ryoma. The front of the cap was like his, except for the red 'R' was replaced by a blue 'K'.

Kage raised an eyebrow at Ryoma, Ryoma smirked, walking up to him, the three boys following, "Quite confidant, ne Ryoma?"

"I could say the same for you."

"Nice outfit."

"You too."

* * *

~School Entrance~

"Ryoma Echizen and Kage Higurashi, have you heard of them?"

"Iie, who are they?"

"Momo says that Echizen is some kind of kid phenomenon."

"And Kage Higurashi?"

"I heard from Momo that the kid seemed as good as Echizen, Momo had to ask around for his name because the kid wouldn't say anything."

"Hey, whatever, if they are good, it'll benefit the team."

* * *

~Tennis Courts~

"Morning practice… This is rough, I wonder if I'll last the day…" said Kachiro.

"Hm. I thought it was strange that Momoshiro-senpai was beaten so easily. He hurt his foot, so he wasn't even playing with half his strength," said Horio.

"He was injured?" Katsuo said.

"I couldn't tell at all," said Kachiro, "Sugoi, na."

"Like I said last time… The other regulars had a match, so they weren't here," said Horio.

Horio looked at Ryoma and Kage, they were tying their shoes, not paying attention.

"Echizen, Higurashi, are you two listening?" Horio asked.

"Not at all," Ryoma replied easily.

Horio made a grumbling sound, "No matter, this just shows that a freshman can't be as good as a regular. Seigaku's level is just too high."

"Why does your age or year matter? It's your skill that you measure, not how old you are," said Kage, 'That should shut him up.'

Kage's thoughts, however, were proven wrong when Horio continued after a short pause, "Freshmen just don't have that kind of skill. Even though the regulars aren't here yet, the rest are still really good."

"I want to see a regular's match soon," said Kachiro.

"Must be awesome," said Katsuo.

"Did you guys know about the monthly ranking matches held in this school?" Horio asked.

Not waiting for an answer, he continued on, "Every month, we use the matches to determine the regulars. This is one of the secrets that keep Seigaku strong," said Horio.

Ryoma and Kage silently stood up and walked away.

A group of boys came up, a sandy brown haired boy said, "You're pretty knowledgeable, that's cool."

"H… Heh. It's nothing really, I'd call this common sense," said Horio, rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

"There are some who know nothing but useless information," Ryoma said, Kage nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey, which one of you is the "super rookie"?" asked one of the older students.

"Super rookie," Ryoma asked, he pretended to think about it, "Oh, there," he said pointing to Horio, who was talking about something.

"Huh, that guy? I see, he stands out with those colorful clothes." He walked towards Horio who was saying, "They're already one of the top 4 in the Kantou region. Seigaku regulars are awesome."

"Freshmen, why are you guys standing there?" asked an upperclassman.

"Let them be," said his opponent. The first guy just turned away.

"I want to play against the captain in the ranking matches," said Horio, "Maybe I can even take a point. Haha."

""H… Hey…" Katsuo said, trying to warn Horio of the approaching upperclassman.

"Don't get all arrogant. Stop this ranking match nonsense. If you think a freshman can play in it, you're a fool; it's only for ninth graders and up,  _maybe_  eighth graders. You freshman are ball fetching and doing stamina training till the summer. Regulars will be determined from juniors and seniors."

"Eh? No Way," said Horio.

* * *

"You know he was talking about you, super rookie," Kage said to Ryoma as they watched the upperclassman chew Horio out.

"So?"

"He's going to find out eventually." Ryoma just shrugged, but paused as he thought of something; "If you jinx this..." he said trailing off.

Kage only smirked at Ryoma from underneath his hat.

* * *

Arai walked up to the upperclassman confronting the freshman, "Why are you wasting your time on the freshmen?"

"Ah… this is the super rookie."

"Huh? What are you talking about? The one that played Momoshiro the other day isn't him, it's that guy, with the white cap."

"Huh? Why that twerp, trying to make a fool out of me, I'll show him," the blue haired upperclassman said.

* * *

"Looks like he knows," said Kage, bouncing the tennis ball on his racket, pretending to not pay attention, Ryoma was standing next to him doing the same.

* * *

~In the Locker Rooms~

Kage went into one of the stalls for the bathroom and came out in his school uniform and heard Horio talking, 'No, not talking, more like bragging.'

"I heard that the captain, Tezuka, went  _undefeated_. Isn't that awesome?" Horio asked.

"That's nothing for  _you_  to brag about," said Kachiro.

"Yeah," Katsuo agreed.

"Oi, Echizen… Isn't it bad to be hated by the juniors? You should be careful. That Arai-senpai seems pretty strict about high-low grade relationships," said Horio, "He must hate you."

"Arai doesn't hate Ryoma because he's a freshman, he hates him because Ryoma got him in trouble with Momo-senpai," said Kage, putting on his sneakers.

"Then he hates you too," said Ryoma.

"Of course, but not as much as you," said Kage.

Horio nodded, "That makes sense-AHHHH! Echizen, that's Arai-senpai's jacket!"

"Huh? Oh this?" Ryoma asked, looking at the jacket, which he was sitting on.

"Why did you have to be sitting on Arai-senpai's jacket!"

"Oh well," said Ryoma getting up, leaving the messed up jacket where it was.

Kage just shook his head at Ryoma's nonchalance. 'Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk, plus, Arai's not gonna know who did it, just that it happened.'

"Damn, I just stepped on someone's racket," said Horio, picking it up and examining it.

"That's a really old racket," Kachiro commented.

"Dusty too," said Katsuo, "look, there's another one." He pointed to another racket behind Horio, it looked similar to the one Horio had stepped on.

"Thank goodness it isn't Arai-senpai's," said Horio, he picked up both rackets and put them on a shelf, "Come on, if we don't hurry, the class will start." He walked to the door and opened it, he walked out without looking and ran straight into someone, falling on his ass, he looked up. There, towering over him stood Arai, his two friends on either side of him.

"Watch where you're going, monkey!"

There was a moment of silence, than Ryoma and Kage made their way to the door, walking outside, side by side, not looking at the older kids in front of them.

"Cheers," said Ryoma, Kage didn't even bother to talk; he just lifted his hand in a small wave, not uttering a word.

"Oi! What was that? Was that supposed to be a greeting to me?" Arai asked.

Ryoma and Kage didn't even look back, they just kept walking, "You bastards," said Arai. Horio and the others saw their chance and ran out of the locker rooms.

* * *

"Did you see their attitudes? Taking liberties with us…" said Arai, walking into the locker room.

He saw his jacket, messed up on the bench, "Who did this? Messing up my jacket! Damn! Everything's turning out annoying!"

"What were the names of those two?" asked the red head, "They're really getting to you."

"The one who said "cheers" was Ryoma Echizen and the one who waved was Kage Higurashi, because of them, Momoshiro's so mad at me," Arai replied.

"I heard both of them are very good, if they get into the ranking matches, it could mean trouble, we could get kicked off the team," said the blue haired boy.

"There is no way I'm letting that happen, they're only in seventh grade!"

'I've got to find a way to embarrass those two in front of everyone,' thought Arai.

* * *

~Random Classroom~

"Well, Tezuka, have you divided all the players evenly into 4 blocks yet," asked Coach Ryuzaki, "This ranking match will be determining the regular members for the district tournament. Must be tough. We have so many good players, the challenges will be a lot of fun this year."

"Yeah," said Tezuka, tapping his pen on the desk.

"Speaking of which, Coach, aren't there two rookies you're kind of rooting for? Two seventh graders, maybe?" Oishi asked.

"It doesn't matter what I think… Basically, our freshman can't play in a ranking match till the summer."

"Well, I think it's really the captain's choice," said Oishi. Both shared a glance, smiling at the other.

* * *

~Tennis Courts After School~

"Why are the practices here so tough?" asked Horio, panting and out of breath, he looked at Ryoma and Kage.

"You two aren't even out of breath!"

Kage looked at Horio, "It really isn't that bad," Kage said. Ryoma nodded, "Mada Mada Dane."

"NO LETTING UP! FIFTY MORE SIT UPS!" A voice yelled at the freshman.

"No way!"

"I can't believe it!"

"I just joined!" Came the varying responses from the freshmen.

Horio held onto Ryoma's legs as Katsuo held onto Kage's legs, Kachiro counted his sit-ups as his friend, Kyoshi, held his legs, "23… 24… 25… 26…"

Kage and Ryoma were almost done, "48… 49…50."

"Hey, Echizen, look behind you, it's them," whispered Horio, at the same time, Katsuo said, "Kage, behind you." Kage and Ryoma both turned around at the same time. They saw Arai standing over them with his two buddies at his side.

Kage and Ryoma just looked at them, Arai looked to the side, he saw Ryoma's and Kage's tennis bags on a bench, he scoffed, 'Who the hell do these kids think they are? Carrying three rackets,' Arai thought.

"Echizen, Higurashi, I wouldn't get too cocky if I were you, just because you two can play a little, doesn't mean you'll get into the ranking tournament. The regulars rock, and they're coming back today. Don't worry, we'll put you two in your places before they get back," said Arai, he stopped as Katsuo said, "Look!"

Horio gasped.

"Hey, they're here!"

Arai turned around, "What?"

Everyone watched as they entered and walked passed them, wearing the regular Seigaku outfit and carrying their tennis bags.

"Cheers!" Everyone said to the Seigaku regulars.

"Everyone relax, just find a court and start to hit," said Oishi, "We'll give you a chance to show us your best stuff."

"Alright! We'll get to play," was heard from the freshmen around the court.

"You know that's Captain Tezuka, he went undefeated all last year," said Horio, pointing at Oishi.

"Actually, that's vice captain Oishi," said Kage.

As if to prove Kage right, Fuji said, "Hey, Oishi, let's you and me go out and hit some balls."

"That's a good idea, we can warm up before Tezuka gets here," Oishi replied.

Kachiro and Katsuo looked at Horio, "I don't think that's Captain Tezuka," said Kachiro, Katsuo nodded. Horio put his hands behind his head, and with a blush on his face, acted like he didn't know what they were talking about.

* * *

Everyone watched as Oishi served and, no matter where the ball went, the players always hit it into the basket that was beside Oishi. "Let's do two balls now, right after the other," said Fuji.

Oishi nodded, "Alright." Oishi served two balls, one after the other with rapid accuracy; again, Fuji just hit them into the basket. Inui, Kaidoh, and Kikumaru, also hit them into the basket.

Wow's and Sugoi's came from the seventh graders around the court, all watching the Regulars warm up.

"Our team is pretty darn good all right, you get it now, hey you two, Echizen and Higurashi?"

Oishi served two balls one after the other, "Darn, I hit them to far," said Oishi. The two balls went into the air, one came at Ryoma, and the other went towards Kage.

Ryoma and Kage looked up, holding their rackets, they both leaned back at the same time and hit the ball with precision, making both balls land in the basket at the same time. The balls hit the basket so hard, that another ball got disturbed and landed on the ground; it rolled on the ground before coming to a stop a few inches away from the basket.

Everyone just gaped at the two, "Huh?" Arai said, shaking out of his stupor. He looked at the two rookies.

"Now, that wasn't so hard," said Kage, smiling he turned towards Ryoma, "What do you think?"

Ryoma turned to look at Kage, nodding, "It was unexpectedly easy," he said smiling.

"What, you think you two can show off here, I'm going to show you two who's on top of the ladder around here," Arai said while grabbing the front of Kage's and Ryoma's shirt with each hand.

"What's going on guys," asked a new voice.

Everyone turned to look at the person standing in front of the court entrance. "Captain!" came everyone's voice together.

"I want you three to run 10 laps around the court," said Tezuka.

"W… Wait, they were-" Arai tried to explain, but Tezuka cut him off, "20 laps. Now."

"H…Hai!" Arai said.

"Everyone else, warm up! When they're done, juniors and seniors will enter the courts! Freshman, collect balls."

"Hai!" Came the reply from the tennis club members.

"Tezuka," Oishi called, Tezuka turned around and went towards Oishi.

"Damn! Those two, I'm gonna make them pay," Arai said, "Them and their hats!"

"Man, did you look dumb," said the blue haired upperclassman, he squeaked and held his hands in a gesture of surrender as Arai glared at him. Arai saw the tennis bags belonging to the two freshmen; he came up with a plan. "Hey guys, come here a minute."

* * *

Ryoma and Kage finished their laps, when they came to the bench for their rackets, they didn't see their tennis bags.

"Keep it going, low to high…65… 66… 67…"

"Hey, guys, did you finish 20 laps?" Kachiro asked.

"Yeah," Kage replied for the both of them, looking around for their tennis bags.

"Man, you don't even look tired," commented Katsuo.

"Seventh graders have to practice top spins, get started," said Horio.

"Yeah," said Ryoma still looking around for the bags.

"Hey…Horio, have you seen our tennis bags?" asked Kage. As Horio opened his mouth to respond, someone else cut him off.

"Pretty dumb to come to practice without your rackets," came the voice of Arai.

"Think you two are better than everyone else, huh?" asked the redhead.

"Well, they are the hotshot rookies," said the guy with the blue hair.

"Better stop goofing off." They started laughing.

"Oh, no… here we go again," said Horio.

"If you think you're that good, we'll play ya, aw, darn it, we forgot you don't have rackets," said Arai.

"Here, I have two extras," said the red head, handing Arai and the blue haired guy the two beat up old rackets.

Arai threw a racket to Ryoma while his blue haired friend threw a similar racket to Kage. They both caught the rackets and examined them.

"Wow, I can't believe it," said Horio.

"Those are from the locker rooms," said Katsuo.

"Kage, Ryoma, you can't play with those," said Kachiro, "The strings are old and the frames are broken."

"So hotshots, what's wrong with you guys now?" asked Arai smugly, "What's the deal, don't you two want to play us any more?"

'Arai is such a jerk,' thought Horio, 'He knows that no one can play with rackets like those.'

Ryoma and Kage just stared at Arai and his friends.

* * *

"Hey, look," said Kikumaru, nodding towards Arai and the freshmen that had made a circle around one spot.

"Hmm?'' said Inui, looking towards the group.

"Arai is picking on the new seventh graders again."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know," said Kikumaru, scratching his head, "But Captain Tezuka is going to be furious."

* * *

"Man, it seems to me like those rackets are perfect for two showboats like you," said Arai, "Learn your lessons and shape up little men, then if you're lucky, you're rackets will mysteriously reappear, hahaha."

Kage gained a gleam in his eye, when he looked at Ryoma; he saw the same thing happening. Kage smirked; those two were going to get what was coming, and it would be humiliating.

"Just stay cool," said Horio, he was ignored by Ryoma and Kage as they walked towards an open court.

"When you don't have it," said Ryoma.

"You just have to take it," finished Kage.

"What was that? You accusing us of something, you little twerps," asked Arai in a dangerous tone.

"Whatever," said Ryoma.

"Big shot, let's just play," said Kage to the blue haired guy.

"Hey, I think I'll stick around for this," said Fuji.

* * *

Arai and the blue haired guy took their positions on the courts.

"My serve!" said the blue haired upperclassman. He threw the ball into the air and served.

After a few tries on both of their parts, they knew how to beat Arai and his friend, "I've got it," said Kage and Ryoma together.

Arai and Hiro (AN: I'm tired of calling him the "blue haired upperclassman") were both surprised when the two returned the serves with the old racket.

"Wow, they did it."

"I thought that was a clean winner."

"Maybe the rackets weren't so bad."

"Don't kid yourself, they're actually that good!"

"They rotated their bodies to put extra spin on the ball," said Kikumaru.

"Don't kid yourself, just because you got lucky," said Arai.

"It was only a fluke," said Hiro.

"Hit this," shouted Hiro, serving a particularly fast ball.

Kage ran towards the net, he stopped at a small distance and spun around, hitting the ball; it went into the court and struck the fence behind it, going right past Hiro's face.

Fuji smirked, "A great calligrapher doesn't need to choose his pens…"

"They'll win, watch out," said Inui.

"Yeah," said Kikumaru happily.

* * *

On the courts, Arai and Hiro were thinking the same thing, 'I can't believe that little creep is going to beat me! Especially with that banged up old racket!'

"Don't trip on the ball," said Ryoma.

On the other court, "Don't fall on your face, that would be really embarrassing," said Kage.

With one last hit, Ryoma and Kage turned the tables. Arai and Hiro fell to their knees in disbelief, their eyes were wide and their mouths wide open in shock.

"I can't believe my eyes," said Horio, "Echizen and Higurashi are totally that good! They could probably even play with a frying pan."

"Ryoma Echizen and Kage Higurashi," said Inoue.

"Those seventh graders are amazing!"

"All right Kage and Ryoma!" called Kachiro and Katsuo.

"Hey, that was a bad move, making the eighth grade team look dumb," said Kaidoh.

"Come on Kaidoh," said Inui.

"I'm outta here," he said walking away.

* * *

"So I guess it's time to turn up the heat," said Ryoma.

On the other court, "Why don't we make it even more interesting," asked Kage.

"Uh, no… no," said Hiro and Arai together, looking afraid of their opponents.

"Look, Echizen has a broken string, and Higurashi's frame is slightly cracked," said Horio.

"Where?" they both asked simultaneously, looking at their rackets.

"Oh, that isn't a big problem,'' said Kage.

"No worries,'' said Ryoma, "We're not finished playing yet, Arai, you ready?"

Arai and Hiro both backed away, "Just let it go already, it's only practice," said Hiro to Kage.

"Yeah, they look tired, and hey, this match doesn't even count," said Akio (AN: He is the redhead on Arai's side).

"No way," said Kage and Ryoma together.

Kage and Ryoma threw the ball into the air and hit it hard towards their opponents.

* * *

From the window of a classroom, Oishi and Tezuka watched the two rookies play with the broken rackets.

"So Captain, what do you think?" asked Oishi.

"I can't let anyone break the rules, have everyone run laps," said Tezuka.

"Even the regulars?"

"Everyone," Tezuka said, he walked out the door and slid it shut.

"Well, well," said Oishi, taking one last look at the playing rookies before leaving the room.

"What's this," said Coach Ryuzaki, as she glanced at the paper for the ranking matches, she smiled, 'So, he picked Echizen and Higurashi, huh?'


	3. Chapter 3

"Until now, Echizen and Higurashi have been able to show off their skills, but they won't be able to compete with this level for long," said Horio, he was leaning against the outside of the tennis court with his hands behind his head, his form and voice were confidant.

"Why not? Ryoma was beating Momoshiro-senpai just the other day, and don't forget how both Ryoma and Kage were beating the second years with a beat up old racket," said Katsuo, looking at Horio from where he was standing, on the other side of Kachiro.

"Yeah, and weren't you the one saying that they could probably play with a frying pan?" asked Kachiro.

"Well, yeah, but I meant against the second and third years, the regulars are regulars for a reason. And Momoshiro-senpai had a sprained ankle, if he hadn't been hurt, then he could have won easily. All the top players are better than those two, no matter how hard they try," said Horio.

"But I'm rooting for them and so is Katsuo, all the seventh graders are," said Kachiro, "All the seventh graders look up to Kage and Ryoma around here."

"Hey, look, here comes Ryoma," said Katsuo, "I wonder where Kage is?"

"Don't let the pressure get to you Ryoma, you can beat those guys," said Kachiro.

"We're rooting for you and Kage," said Katsuo, as Ryoma was walking by.

"Fsssshh." Ryoma stopped; he looked at the regular sitting behind the tree.

"Oi, freshman," said Kaidoh.

"Hai!"

"Stop slacking off! Now go!"

"Yes sir!" The three freshmen ran off, leaving Ryoma with Kaidoh.

Kage rubbed his eyes, "Man, I'm so sleepy," he groaned, 'and hungry,' he added mentally. Today was the day of the ranking tournament. He was in Bracket D, the same as Ryoma, Inui-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai. Only two would be chosen from all the brackets.

Kage walked by the tennis courts, there he saw Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro run off and leave Ryoma.

"Konnichiwa," said Kage as he walked up to the two tennis players.

Ryoma gave Kage a nod, Kaidoh looked at the two from his place, "Oi."

"Hai," replied Ryoma, Kage tilted his head to the side and looked at Kaidoh with curious sapphire eyes, "Hmm?"

"Aren't you freshmen?"

"Hai, we're leaving now," said Ryoma walking away with Kage in tow, "What a creepy guy."

"I'm sure he isn't that bad," said Kage as they both went down to the tennis courts were the matches were held.

"Are you always this optimistic," asked Ryoma.

"I don't judge, plus if you think he was creepy, I wonder what you'd think of some of the people I've met," said Kage.

'Now that I think about it, he probably isn't that creepy,' thought Ryoma.

"Aw, I wish I was better, like Ryoma-kun and Kage-kun," said Sakuno, she was practicing her form.

A racket poked her knees, "Ahh, Ryoma-kun, Kage-kun," said Sakuno as the two boys walked past her.

Ryoma held up his racket to the side, "Bend your knees and keep your elbows straight."

"Ah! Any other tips?"

"Hai, your shoulders are too open, and your hair is too long, stand firmer," said Ryoma walking away with Kage, who was shaking his head in amusement, by his side.

Sakuno pouted, she turned back to practice, only to have a bunch of girls rush by.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Hurry, hurry, the ranking tournament is about to start!"

"Hey, do you guys know who Tezuka is playing?"

"No idea, but I heard there going to let two seventh graders play!"

"They must be something, who are they?"

"It must be Ryoma-kun and Kage-kun," said Sakuno, smiling at the thought of the two boys.

"Hey! What's the big idea!" Tomo came running up to Sakuno.

"C…Calm down, Tomoka!"

"We're going to go watch Ryoma-sama's and Kage-sama's match," Tomoka said, "We're going to cheer them on!" She grabbed Sakuno's arm, "Ahh," Sakuno yelled as Tomoka pulled her along.

"What's wrong with long hair,  **I** have long hair," said Kage, indicating the braid on his right shoulder, out of the corner of his eye he saw Sakuno pouting.

"Her hair is twice as long as yours," Ryoma said.

Kage shrugged, "I'll be facing you in the final match up, of course, you do have to get past Kaidoh-senpai and Inui-senpai."

"So do you, make sure not to lose before you get to me," said Ryoma.

"To think that you have so little faith in my abilities," said Kage, putting a hand on his heart, "You wound me."

Ryoma snorted, "Riiight."

"Well, good luck," said Kage as they reached the courts to where Ryoma was playing.

As soon as Ryoma and Kage entered the court Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo came running up to them, "Echizen!" called Horio.

"Your match is up," said Kachiro.

"If you lose I might be traumatized for life," said Katsuo.

"Way to be supportive, Katsuo," said Kage.

"This is it, even the older players are watching to see what's going to happen," said Horio.

"Fssssh," a racket cut between Ryoma and Kage, and Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro, Kaidoh stepped beside them, "You're in my way, move!"

"Hai! Right away Kaidoh-senpai," said Horio, the trio backed away quickly.

Kaidoh looked down at Ryoma from the corner of his eyes, Ryoma looked up at the same time, silence…

Everyone watched to see what would happen, Kaidoh raised his arm and brought it up to his chin, he turned and walked away.

"Hmm," Kage hummed, "I wonder what that was about." He looked at Kaidoh thoughtfully, "Ryoma."

Ryoma looked at Kage, Kage leaned in close, like he was going to tell him some secret, "I wonder what kind of sparks they were," Kage said. He slipped away before Ryoma had a chance to react and walked over to the trio.

Ryoma scowled in Kage's direction.

"Kaidoh… the match hasn't even started yet," said Inui, he stood with Oishi outside the tennis court, watching.

"He's already in battle mode," said Oishi.

"Everyone in Bracket D is ready."

"Inui, you're pretty calm. Aren't you in Bracket D?"

"I am also in battle mode," said Inui, Oishi turned to look at him, he saw Inui with his notebook, writing something in it.

The two players stood on each side of the court; the older boy was panting, beads of sweat rolling down his temple.

Ryoma watched his opponent, he tossed the ball into the air and jumped, the ball landed in the other court, bounced and flew past his opponent's face, so fast that the guy didn't even have a chance to react.

"Game, Set, and Match to Ryoma Echizen, 6-0," said the chair judge.

"Echizen dominated this match," said Horio, "Hey, where are Kachiro and Kyoshi?"

"Uhh… they were just here a minute ago," said Kachiro, "Kage?"

Kage shook his head, "I have no idea." They turned to the other court where they saw Oishi, "Wow, Oishi-senpai's really on fire," said Horio.

"So is Kikumaru-senpai," said Katsuo, nodding towards Kikumaru's match.

"Seems like all the regular team members are wining 6-0," said Horio.

"Ohh, Ryoma-sama!" Girls screamed from around the court, the boys covered their ears from the squealing, some massaging their temples at the sound.

Kage cringed as the girls made a particularly high squeal and covered his ears.

Horio and Katsuo sweat dropped, "That's amazing, too…" said Katsuo.

"Game, Set, and Match to Ryoma Echizen, 6-0," said the chair judge.

Ryoma walked towards Kage, "Your turn. Bet?"

Kage smirked, "How long?"

"15 minutes," said Ryoma.

Kage looked at his opponent, "Hmm, 10."

"Done, if you finish in 15 minutes, than you owe me a favor," said Ryoma.

Kage narrowed his eyes, "What kind of favor?"

Ryoma shrugged, "Whenever I think of something."

Kage shrugged, "Ok, if I get done in 10 minutes, you have to kiss Sakuno in front of the tennis club, and Tezuka  **has** to be present."

Ryoma narrowed his eyes, Kage smirked evilly, "Or, you could do something else…" said Kage trailing off, knowing Ryoma would take the bait.

"What…" Ryoma was hesitant to ask.

"You could confess, that you have feelings for Kaidoh-senpai in front of the tennis club," said Kage.

"I'll do the first one,  **if** you finish in 10 minutes," said Ryoma, they shook hands and Kage walked off.

Tezuka watched as Echizen played against his opponent. Coach Ryuzaki walked up to him, "Worried about little Echizen?"

"No, not really," Tezuka replied.

"Game, Set, and Match to Ryoma Echizen, 6-0," announced the chair judge.

Tezuka watched Higurashi play against his opponent, 'Hmm, he can use the Kick Serve, why does he want to finish the match quickly?' He looked over at Echizen, he was holding a timer, 'Ahh, they have a bet, interesting…'

"Of course, you aren't worried about little Higurashi, either," Coach said.

"Of course not," replied Tezuka.

"Game, Set, and Match to Kage Higurashi, 6-0," announced the chair judge.

Kage came back, "How long?"

Ryoma scowled, he handed the timer to Kage, "9 minutes and 45 seconds? Sweet! Alright Ryoma, whenever you're ready," Kage said happily.

"How about we do it when we make the team?" Kage asked, Ryoma's scowl deepened, "Fine."

Horio and Katsuo came to where Kage and Ryoma were talking.

"Ryoma, you're up against Kaidoh-senpai and Kage is up against Inui-senpai," said Katsuo, "I personally hope you two beat them into the ground!"

"They might have been doing great against these players, but there is no way that they are going to beat the actual regulars, no way, not a chance," said Horio.

"Way to be supportive to your friends, Horio," said Kage.

Ryoma put a hand on his stomach, "What happened? I didn't mean to make you anxious," said Horio.

"So… hungry," said Ryoma. Horio fell down anime style, "You aren't even nervous!"

"We have to go to the score board first, we'll meet you guys in the locker rooms," said Kage.

Ryoma and Kage set of towards Oishi. "Want to make another bet?" Kage asked.

"Iie. I'm still getting the benefits of the first one."

Kage pouted, they reached Oishi, "Ryoma Echizen, Bracket D, 6-0."

"Got it," said Oishi, he turned to write the score on the board.

"Kage Higurashi, Bracket D, 6-0."

"Alright," he wrote the score on the board and nodded.

"Unbelievable, amazing, Ryoma and Kage, just keep winning," said Horio as the four, Katsuo, Horio, Ryoma, and Kage, sat on the locker room floor, eating their lunches.

"But before you said that they couldn't beat anyone on the team," said Katsuo.

"I only meant the regulars. Maybe… if… you know Ryoma and Kage keep playing this well, then they might actually win a game against Kaidoh-senpai and Inui-senpai," said Horio.

The door opened, Kachiro and Kyoshi came in, "Ah, Kachiro, Kyoshi, where did you guys go? And… what happened to your eye?" Horio asked the two boys as the entered.

"I was trying so hard to tape that I got hit by a ball…" said Kachiro.

"Forget that, we have got a problem," said Kachiro.

"A big problem," said Kyoshi, "I taped Inui-senpai's match, his opponent didn't get a single point, forget a game. Not a single point!"

"I taped Kaidoh-senpai's match, look at this," said Kachiro holding up the video camera, Kyoshi did the same. Horio and Katsuo ran up to the two boys.

"The match was incredible," said Kachiro and Kyoshi at the same time.

"Ah, Sugoi, ne? Buggy Whip Shot…" said Ryoma to Kage.

"Hai, hai, demo, did you see this," Kage pointed to something in another tennis sports mag, "Data tennis, through observations, you can predict how your opponent will move and base your strategy on that, how troublesome."

"That would be troublesome and annoying too, you would basically be playing your self," said Ryoma.

They both stood up and left the locker room.

"Hey guys, where are you going?" Kachiro asked.

"Yeah, don't you guys want to watch the videos?" asked Kyoshi.

They didn't reply and left.

Oishi heard footsteps approaching him, he looked up from what he was writing, "Inui?"

"You can go to lunch now, I'll take over," said Inui, while writing his score on the board.

"Great, how's it going?"

Inui finished writing '6-0' on his spot on the board before he replied, "I am winning, no big surprise, but those seventh graders haven't lost a game yet."

Oishi stood up, "But you'll know how to beat them when you're up against them, right?"

"It's possible," said Inui, holding up his notebook.

Oishi shook his head, "You and your troublesome notebook, I hate it," he said smiling.

"Those two are the ones who will be having trouble," said Inui, "I'm up against Kage Higurashi, and Ryoma Echizen is up against Kaidoh, both against regulars."

"Fssssh," Kaidoh said from where he was sitting.

Inui and Oishi turned around, "Ah, Kaidoh, you're looking as cheerful as ever, I see," said Inui.

"Are you trying to pick a fight, Senpai?" asked Kaidoh.

Ryoma and Kage stood at the back of the school building, "What do you think of Kaidoh-senpai?" Kage asked, he served the ball, and each time the ball came back, Kage hit the ball so that it hit the same place on the wall every time.

Ryoma did the same, "I don't know, I've never seen him play, but he must be good to be a regular," Ryoma said, then shrugged, "What about Inui-senpai? He's your next opponent, ne?"

Kage nodded, "Yeah, but it's the same as with you and Kaidoh, I don't know much about him, I haven't seen him play either," Kage shrugged.

"You don't look worried," commented Ryoma.

Kage smirked, "That's because I'm not, but you don't look worried either."

Ryoma smirked as he repeated what Kage said, "That's because I'm not."

'Tomoka makes me do everything, she's so bossy,' thought Sakuno, she ran towards the school building, she stopped as she saw Ryoma and Kage hitting tennis balls on the wall.

"Kage-kun…Ryoma-kun," she said.

Momo jumped and hit the ball straight to the ground.

"There it is! Momo's Dunk Smash!"

"Game, Set, and Match to Momoshiro, 6-0," announced the chair judge.

"Hmm, Momo's ankle sprain appears to have fully healed," said Syusuke Fuji, he stood with Eiji Kikumaru.

"I didn't think he'd be able to play in this tournament because of it," said Kikumaru.

Momo, hearing them talk turned around, "Resting for more than a week makes my body numb," said Momo.

"It's good rehab exercise," Momo said, walking away.

"Rehab? What a guy," said Kikumaru smiling and shaking his head.

'Wow, they're hitting the balls to the same exact spot on the wall,' Sakuno thought after observing them for a while.

"Is there something you want," asked Kage, turning around, as the ball came back, he bounced it on his racket, Ryoma turned his head slightly but kept hitting the ball to the wall.

"Ah! Gomen-nasai, I didn't mean to disturb you guys," said Sakuno.

"You didn't disturb us, do you need something," Kage asked, putting a smile on his face as he confronted the girl to put her at ease a little.

"Ah, well…your matches are soon, so…I…I wish you guys luck," said Sakuno blushing, Kage rolled his eyes, 'Greeaaat, I have an admirer,' Kage thought, 'I wonder what she'd do if she found out that I was a girl,' Kage mentally laughed, 'Poor girl, probably faint.'

"Huh," said Ryoma, finally turning around, he looked at Sakuno, who was standing there, she seemed to realize that it had become awkward, she blushed harder and ran off, her two braids flying behind her.

"Don't you know how to scare them off," Kage teased.

"Hn," Ryoma grunted.

Kage had the urge to pound Ryoma, but held it back, ''Hn' is NOT a word,' Kage huffed mentally.

"Anata,'' Ai Higurashi called.

"Huh," Akihiko looked up, he saw his wife approaching, so he quickly hid the magazine he was looking at away. He was wearing a blue monk's outfit and lying on the shrine's back porch (AN: It's just like Nanjiro's except it is blue instead of black).

"Hai?"

"Can you feed Kilala, I have to go pick up Souta from soccer practice, and then I will take him shopping for groceries," said Ai indicating Kilala, their cat. Kilala was a beautiful cream-colored cat, she had black ears, a black diamond in the middle of her forehead, and two black stripes on her tail (AN: She has one tail and Souta is 8 years old) and legs.

(AN: If you guys want to see what image I'm talking about this is the link: images. wikia inuyasha/ images /1 /17 /Kirara 38. jpg Just take out the spaces.)

Akihiko nodded, "Of course," he said with a nervous smile, hoping that she would not see the magazine behind him. Ai nodded and left, she knew her husband was looking at trash as usual.

"Meow," came Kilala's voice.

"Ah, come on, let's get you some food," said Akihiko, he put down the magazine; he got up and walked to the kitchen, Kilala following behind him. He took out a can of cat food and emptied it in her bowl.

Akihiko sighed, "I wonder what Nanjiro's doing…"

He grinned as his eyes landed on a doll that Kagome had made when she was little for Kilala.

Nanjiro sneezed, he was lying on his back on the porch, he yawned, "Sa, I'm so bored," he muttered to himself.

"Meow." Nanjiro looked at Karupin, he turned on his side, "Oh, Karupin! I have something for ya. See how you like this," said Nanjiro, taking out a snake toy.

Ryoma walked into the court, "Yo," said Momo while putting on his regular jacket.

"Hello," Ryoma said, he walked by not looking at Momo.

"Is Kaidoh your next opponent?"

"Hmm, probably."

"That's a risky attitude, you don't know who you are dealing with," said Momo, "You better be careful with that Viper."

Ryoma looked up, "Viper?"

"That's what they call Kaidoh," said Momo.

"Ah, hai," said Ryoma walking away.

"That kid's crazy," said Momo.

Kage walked into the court, finishing up his match was Kikumaru; he won against some ninth grade kid.

"Hey, you're up against Inui," he said to Kage.

Kage looked at him, "Yeah, I guess."

"Be careful, Inui is probably one of the toughest on our team, unless you can win against yourself…." Kikumaru trailed off.

"Against myself hmm," said Kage walking away, 'Interesting, I wonder…'

Inui walked up to Kawamura, who was standing with Tezuka, watching the game start between Ryoma and Kaidoh,

"Kawamura, I have a favor to ask you," said Inui.

"Hai?"

"Can you video tape Echizen's match for me?" asked Inui.

"Sure."

"Fujiko, who do you think is going to win?" asked Kikumaru to his best friend.

"It's hard to tell, I would say Inui, but I wouldn't underestimate Higurashi, he made it till here without losing a single game," Fuji replied.

Just then, Inui entered the court; he saw that Kage was sitting on the bench, tying his shoes.

"Have you been waiting long?" asked Inui.

"Iie," said Kage.

"The match between Kage Higurashi and Sadaharu Inui will now begin," said the chair judge, "Service, Inui."

"The match between Ryoma Echizen and Kaoru Kaidoh will now begin," said the chair judge, "Service, Echizen."

Kage got ready, 'Let's see what you've got,' he thought. Inui served, Kage moved, he was swift on his feet, he hit the ball towards the left corner.

'He'll miss this,' thought Inui as he aimed for the opposite corner from Kage.

"15-0," called the chair judge.

They started hitting the ball. They kept going at a steady pace, both looking for an opening, rallying the ball back and forth.

"Good approach shot," said Inui, "but not good enough."

He aimed at the corner, "30-0," announced the chair judge.

"Sadaharu-senpai took another point," said Kachiro. Horio, Kyoshi, and Sakuno were watching Ryoma, and he, Katsuo, and Tomoka were watching Kage.

Inui served, Kage ran to the ball, he hit it, Inui was at the net, he hit the ball before Kage could react.

"40-0…"

"Hey, it looks like Sadaharu-senpai is in position before Kage even hits the ball," said Kachiro.

"Could he really be that good?" Tomoka asked.

"That's impossible, it's just a fluke, no one is that good," said Katsuo, "No one can know where a person can hit before they even hit the ball."

"Game to Inui."

"But Sadaharu does know," said a new voice.

"Huh," the freshmen turned to see Fuji and Kikumaru watching the game.

"In fact, he knows exactly where Kage will put every shot," said Fuji.

"Oh my gosh, it's Fuji and Kikumaru!" Tomoka squealed, as hearts appeared in her eyes.

Kachiro turned to Tomoka, "Since when are you a fan of Fuji-senpai's and Kikumaru-senpai's?" He was ignored.

"Sadaharu is one of the most tenacious players on the team," said Fuji.

"Yeah, but I don't understand, how does Sadaharu know where Kage will hit the ball?" asked Katsuo.

"Well, watch and learn," said Kikumaru.

"Sadaharu's moving forward," said Tomoka.

"Probability of going left, 75%," said Inui.

Kage dove toward the ball, he hit it, "The ball will miss by two ball widths," said Inui. The ball hit the net and bounced away, back to Kage.

"Game to Inui."

"Kage got totally wiped out, he didn't even win a single point," said Katsuo, "It's 2-1."

Akihiko grinned, "Come on Kilala, get the doll, reap the reward." He grinned as he held the doll with his foot, just out of reach, while looking at his treasure magazine.

Kilala mewed, she swiped at it but each time she got closer, the doll moved farther away. Kilala watched the doll; she crouched down, and jumped up.

"OWWWWWW!" The yell was heard a mile away.

Kilala had knocked the doll out of Akihiko's hold and bit his toe.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, stupid cat! Here," he picked up the doll and threw it to Kilala.

"Game to Inui. Switch courts."

The two walked to the other side. The two passed each other, "25%," said Inui, stopping Kage in the middle of his walk.

"Huh?"

"Counting your match against all the other players, I have seen four of your matches, straight: 10 times, cross-court: 7 times, lob: 2 times. According to my calculations, the probability of a cross-court return against a slice approach, like the one I just hit, is more than likely to be 25%," said Inui to Kage's back.

"You wouldn't dare hit a lob against a tall player like me, the right side was wide open for a down-the-line passing shot, but because you are such a strong, aggressive player, you aimed cross-court, to try and out wit me. So then, the inverse of the 25% is, there's a 75% probability of a cross-court shot," said Inui, "I have your tennis game all figured out."

"Data tennis, ne? What a horrible way to play," said Kage, walking away.

"Rookies just never get it," said Inui, as he walked to the other side of the court.

"2-1, Inui leads, Higurashi to serve," announced the chair judge.

'He plays data tennis, there is no  _way_ I can lose to him, not to him,' Kage thought, 'Ryoma's not the only super rookie, it's time for me to start playing seriously, but first…'

Kage threw the ball, out of the corner of his eye he saw Inui move with the toss, he hit the ball.

The ball hit the net and rolled away, back towards Kage, "I guess you studied where my serves go too, huh?" Kage asked rhetorically, 'I need to come up with a plan.'

Inui smirked, "I really did not think you were going to fault."

Fuji chuckled, "I guess he hates to lose as well."

"No, really," asked Kikumaru sarcastically, hanging off of Fuji, "Then, do you mean that Kage did that on purpose?" asked Kachiro.

Kikumaru nodded.

"Being cocky is fine, but he won't get anywhere with that, what is Kage thinking," said Katsuo, "I hope he wins."

They watched the intense stare off between Inui and Kage, "Hey! I got it! I know how to beat Sadaharu-senpai," Tomo shouted.

"No way!"

"You did what?"

"Listen, Sadaharu-senpai bases his tennis off of the data he has on each player, right?" asked Tomo.

"Your point?"

"Well, since he doesn't have any data on me, if I play him than I'd win," said Tomoka, sounding as she'd just solved a murder case.

"Kage! Go Kage!" Kachiro and Katsuo started cheering for Kage, pretending they never heard what Tomoka had said.

"Kage, Kage, Kage, Kage, Kage, Kage, Kage," they kept shouting.

"Hey! Isn't anybody listening to me?" Shouted Tomoka, but she was ignored.

Kage served again, they started rallying back and forth.

"15-30."

"Another point down, does Kage have a chance?" asked Kachiro.

"There is still a chance! Kage still has his service game," said Katsuo.

"Yeah, you're right," said Kachiro.

"Yeah, he's really starting to pick up his game," said Katsuo.

"No, Higurashi is still getting beaten, you don't get it," said Fuji with Kikumaru's arm still around his shoulders.

"What do you mean?" asked Tomoka.

"With all the data Sadaharu has on Higurashi, he's got to change up his game," said Fuji.

"Yeah, he's the third best player on our team," cut in Eiji.

"In order to get a point, he needs to hit the ball in an area that is impossible for Inui to anticipate. To hit with pinpoint accuracy is even tough for the pros to do," said Fuji.

"Then, Kage will…" said Kachiro.

"If he loses his concentration, it will be all over," said Eiji.

"In Inui's mind, he is playing a different Higurashi, if Higurashi even makes the slightest bit of change, it won't help, because Inui has memorized the data so well, that unless Higurashi almost totally changes his style, Inui will win," said Fuji.

"Game to Inui, 3-1," announced the chair judge.

"Oh no! Kage lost his service game!" said Katsuo.

"You can't change the way you play so easily, especially when you're on the run. No matter where you hit it, your opponent is there, waiting for you. If it was any other player, they'd be panicking right now," said Fuji.

'Looks like there is no other way,' thought Kage as he held up his blue racket to his face, playing with the strings.

"You're pretty good, you're instinctively targeting areas that are out of my reach. To be honest, you're stronger than me. However, if you know where the ball is going to land, no matter how good the shot is, you can hit it back," said Inui.

"Don't think you'll be a Seigaku regular member soon. I will be one this time," said Inui.

Kage smirked at Inui's back. "I was really hoping I wouldn't have to use this, atleast, not until Nationals," said Kage, "I'm really happy that I chose to come here instead of another school, now I can win against all types of tennis players."

He started bouncing on his feet. "I wanted to keep this a secret from everyone around here. I recently got the hang of this, it's harder than it looks," said Kage.

Inui served, the ball went towards Kage, "Isn't it annoying to calculate where I'm going to hit it? I'll save you the trouble, right."

"Not falling for that," said Inui, as he reached the ball just in time.

"Next one's left," said Kage.

"Right!" Kage said hitting the ball.

"Lob!" He said hitting the ball high.

"Why is Kage telling him where he's going to hit the ball?" asked Kachiro.

"Look! Kage is getting to his positions on the court just as fast as Inui-senpai!" said Katsuo.

"Behind!" said Kage.

'You underestimate me! It's the same pattern as before,' thought Inui.

"This time, it's to the left," said Kage, as he hit the ball, his hat flew off his head and his braid fell off his shoulder to his back.

"Out! 15-0!"

"I over did it a bit," said Kage, he used his racket to lift his hat of the ground, he placed the black hat back on his head, "I still have to work on it a bit, but I have to hand it to you, you didn't even react because you knew that the ball was going to be out."

'I saw that, it wasn't that you didn't move because you knew it would be out, but it was because you  _couldn't_  move,' thought Kage. Inui was thinking along the same lines as Kage.

Inui served. Kage returned each and every ball at an incredible speed.

"15-15!"

"30-15!"

"40-15!"

"Game to Higurashi! Service Higurashi!"

"Here is another ball that you can predict but can't return," said Kage.

'He is hitting a twist serve,' thought Inui…

"15-0!"

"30-0!"

"40-0!"

"Game to Higurashi!"

"Game to Higurashi!"

"Game to Higurashi!"

"Game, Set, and Match goes to Higurashi, 6-3!" announced the chair judge.

Kachiro, Katsuo, and Tomoka ran over to Kage.

"You were amazing!"

"Kage-sama you were awesome!"

"Well, it looks like he beat a regular, huh," said Fuji to Kikumaru, who nodded.

"Game, Set, and Match, goes to Echizen, he wins 6-3," the chair judge announced.

"Awesome!"

"You won!"

Shiba took pictures of Ryoma, "He beat a regular!"

"Come on Shiba, we need to go see Kage Higurashi's match," said Inoue.

"Right away, sir!"

"Hey, Echizen, you were awesome," said Horio.

"Hey, let's go see Kage's match," said Kyoshi.

"He isn't done?" Ryoma asked. They shrugged, "We assumed he wasn't done yet because we haven't seen him, yet," said Kyoshi.

Just as Kyoshi finished talking, Kage, Katsuo, Kachiro and Tomoka entered the court.

"What took you so long?" asked Kage grinning.

"I could say the same, I won, 6-3," said Ryoma.

"Really? I won 6-3 also. Did you hear? We won't be facing each other when I beat Kaidoh-senpai tomorrow and if you beat Inui-senpai tomorrow," said Kage.

"What do you mean 'if'?" asked Ryoma, "I will beat Inui-senpai."

"Sure, tell me that when you do," said Kage.

Since the ranking tournament was over until tomorrow, they decided to go home.

"Kaa-san! I'm home," called Kagome.

"Meow," said Kilala. She smiled and picked her up, stroking her back gently.

"Ah, Kagome, how was school?" asked Akihiko to his daughter.

"Fine. What's that?" asked Kagome as she spotted a magazine behind her father's back.

"Uh, oh this! It's just some…boring magazine," said Akihiko, quickly putting it out of sight. Kagome let it go since she was holding Kilala, "Anyways, where's Kaa-san and Souta?" she asked instead.

"She went to pick up Souta and from there she went grocery shopping, so it's just you and me home, kiddo. We can spend some quality time together! My sweet daughter," said Akihiko, he stood up and attempted to glomp Kagome, but she skillfully evaded him, used to avoiding her father's dramatic antics.

"I'm going to rest," said Kagome, walking away and leaving her dramatic father on the floor crying anime style tears and muttering about how cold his own daughter was to him.

Kagome entered her room, it had a queen-sized bed pushed into the corner with soft blue covers and a multi colored comforter, folded at the edge. She had a bedside table where her alarm clock and various other things were.

She had easels and all her drawing stuff in another corner and her tennis stuff in another. The painting she was working on was still up on the easel, it was of a half finished girl who had wings, the top half was black and the bottom half were white, the middle, where the two colors met was gray, the wings encircled her body, her face turned towards the sky and her lips slightly parted.

The background was white with random horizontal black slashes and stripes going across the canvas and around the girl's body, white and black sometimes overlapping. She had yet to put the finishing touches on the painting.

Kagome lay down on her bed with Kilala curled up next to her, and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Kagome's cat is Buyo, but I wanted to include Kilala in this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Talking"
> 
> 'Thinking'

"Game, Set and, Match to Kage Higurashi," announced the chair judge, "6-2."

"Hey! Higurashi's a regular!" said Horio excitedly to Sakuno and Kyoshi.

"Yeah! Kage-kun is awesome, he won against Kaidoh-senpai," said Sakuno. They rushed inside the court to congratulate Kage.

* * *

"Game, Set and, Match to Ryoma Echizen," announced the chair judge, "6-3."

"Wow! Ryoma's one of the regulars now!" said Kachiro to Katsuo and Tomoka.

"Ryoma-sama! Ryoma-sama won against Inui-senpai!" squealed Tomoka as she made her way on to the court, followed by the two boys, to congratulate him on his victory.

* * *

Kachiro walked up to Kage as he was picking up his tennis bag.

"Hey, Kage, I'm inviting everyone to go to where my dad works. It's a tennis club. Do you want to come? He's a coach there," said Kachiro.

"When are going?" asked Kage as he shouldered his bag.

"Saturday at around 2 pm."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I can't make it. I have to meet up with an old friend on Saturday. Well…if it's okay with you, can I bring my friend?" asked Kage.

Kachiro nodded, "Sure, it's more fun with a lot of people. See you then."

"See ya!" Kage waved goodbye and left.

* * *

~Saturday~

"Ann-chan!" A voice called out. Ann turned to see a girl running towards her, her loose long black hair flying behind her, and her sapphire blue eyes gleaming as she stopped in front of her, holding a bag. She was wearing black cargo capris and a light blue tank top.

Ann grinned at her friend, "Ohayo, Kagz, why are you running? Excited to see me?" she teased.

Kagome could barely refrain from bouncing on her feet as she told her friend the news.

"I'm a Seigaku tennis regular!" Kagome blurted out.

Ann gave Kagome a flat look, clearly unimpressed, "And you were worried? Kagz that position was basically waiting for you. Against you, no girl can win. I bet you beat the captain of the girl's tennis team. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you, just not surprised."

Kagome grinned brighter, "…For the boys team…" She waited for the words to sink in; she wasn't disappointed.

"WHAT! B-b-but h-how?" she asked incredulously, "I mean, look at you, there is no way you could pass as a boy. You're rack is almost as big as Sango's, and she's a 'D'!"

Kagome laughed at her friend's shocked expression, and dragged her towards the bathrooms on the street tennis courts.

"Watch," Kagome said before disappearing inside. A few moments later Kagome came out dressed as a boy in her tennis outfit with her hair braided and her hat on.

Ann looked gobsmacked. "Explain."

Kagome led Ann inside the bathroom; once the door was closed she lifted up her shirt showing the bindings around her chest.

"The bindings cover my chest, even though it isn't too tight, it's just enough so that my chest is not noticeable. And my school uniform is a little big, though not too big so that takes care of my body shape. My tennis outfit is the same except for the shorts, which are just a bit longer, and my hair is in a braid, instead of a ponytail," Kagome explained, "by the way, when I'm in school I go by Kage."

"What about your voice?" Ann asked.

"You know, that's a damn good question. Well, I talk normally except that I make my voice just a little bit lower. But if they've noticed, they either don't care or don't know what to think about it."

Ann had an understanding look on her face, Kagome put the pants and tank top into her bag and they both left the bathroom.

"So, all that time hanging around with Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha finally paid off, huh?" asked Ann.

Kagome groaned, "You have no idea how hard it is to act like you have a stick up your ass but at the same time not being seen as arrogant! I'm actually a bit quieter around the team."

"Maa, you only have yourself to blame," said Ann playfully.

"Hmph! Oh! I almost forgot, one of my friends, Kachiro, invited me to go to the tennis club where his father coaches and I'm allowed to bring you along."

"Is that why you didn't change back into your outfit?"

Kagome nodded, "Yeah, so you have to call me either Kage or just keep calling me Kagz. So, what do you say? Wanna go?"

Ann nodded, "Sure, it'll be fun. On the way, you have to tell me how bad the girl's tennis team was to bring this on?"

"Oh, that wasn't what started it, though it did play a big part."

Ann raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"It was the…" Kagome paused for dramatic effect, "the…uniform," she said, shuddering at the small skirt.

Ann blinked once, twice, then she busted out laughing, "Hahahahahahaha! Omigawd! Hahahaha! Oh…oh…" Ann gasped, as she clutched her side.

Kagome pouted, "It's not funny!" Kagome whined.

Ann nodded as she struggled to keep in her laughter, pressing her lips together, her free hand coming up to cover her mouth while her other hand was still holding her side.

A few moments later Ann took a deep breath, her face a light red from all the laughing, "Okay, okay, I'm better now."

Kagome huffed, she gave the same explanation that she gave to her kaa-san, and said, "It made me look like a slut!"

Ann looked at her disbelievingly, "It can't be that bad! I mean  **I**  wear a skirt to school."

"It came up till here," said Kagome indicating the length with her hand, which was on her upper thigh.

"Wow, that is short. But, what about the other girls that wear it?"

"Some get a bigger size and alter it so that it fits, others just wear it as is."

"So why didn't you alter it?"

"Tennis."

"Oh. How bad?"

"Terrible! More than half cried,  **cried and whined** , when they broke a nail, one nail. The captain was okay, she was actually really good, but her team was something else. Most were there to gain the attention of the boys' team. That was actually the deciding factor. Oh, I did play the captain of the girl's team, Misaki, I won 6-4."

"She must have been good compared to the others."

Kagome nodded. "Hey, who's that," Ann pointed to the three people further down the road with their bikes.

Kagome looked to where Ann was pointing, her eyes widened, "The one with the yellow shirt is Momo-senpai," said Kagome, "He's another regular," she added as Ann gave her a questioning look.

"I can't tell who the other two are, though," Kagome said frowning slightly. As they came closer to the trio they heard snippets of the argument.

"…Trying to say…"

"…Men!"

"Move…"

When they were a few steps behind the quarreling trio, Kagome caught a glance of the woman's face.

"Shiba-san! Momo-senpai, what are you doing?" Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Kage-kun," replied Shiba, turning to look at the young boy behind her, "What are you doing here?"

"Konnichiwa Higurashi!" said Momo enthusiastically, momentarily forgetting the monk he was arguing with.

The monk took advantage of the distraction and raced off down the road. Momo cursed under his breath as the monk escaped.

Kage looked at the weird monk as he ran, "Who was that?"

"I don't know," said Momo.

"That was Nanjiro-san, Inoue and I went to interview him for the tennis magazine,' Shiba said shrugging.

"Well, shall we get going?" Kagome asked.

The other two nodded and the quartet set off towards the tennis courts.

"Kage-kun, who is your friend?" Shiba asked as they were walking.

"Ah, gomen. This is Ann-chan, we met through our older siblings."

"Nice to meet you," Ann politely smiled.

"Kawaii! You two must have an interesting relationship!" Shiba exclaimed.

Kage realized what she was implying the same time as Ann.

"Eww." Kage and Ann said at the same time, making faces at the other.

"Shiba-san, our older siblings are dating. Ann-chan is practically my sister," Kage explained.

"Oh, well, uh…gomen. I didn't know you had an older sibling, Kage-kun," Shiba said embarrassed.

Kage nodded, "I have one older sister and two younger brothers, Sango-nee is dating Miroku, Ann's oldest brother. My two younger brothers are Souta and Kohaku, they're twins."

"How come your siblings don't go to Seigaku," Momo asked.

"Currently, Sango-nee and Kohaku are in America. Sango-nee is participating in the national basketball tournament there and Kohaku tagged along."

They reached the courts as Kage finished his explanation. "Kage! Momo-senpai! Shiba-san! You came!" Kachiro said as he came over to them.

"Konnichiwa! Kachiro, this is Ann, Ann, this is Kachiro," Kage said, introducing the two.

"Konnichiwa It's nice to meet you, thank you for letting me come along," said Ann.

"Oh, it's no problem."

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Kage asked, as he looked over to the courts where he saw Ryoma playing with an old man.

They walked over to the court as Kachiro explained to them what was going on.

"He said he was the golden retriever? What a dog, oops, I mean drag," said Kage, Ryoma and Sasabe looked up at the comment.

Ryoma smirked, "Took you long enough."

"Maa, I'm here now, aren't I?" Kage replied.

"Hn."

Sasabe scowled, "Don't you have any respect for your elders?"

"Demo, you're the one who called yourself a golden retriever, which is a type of dog," Kage said innocently.

Sasabe ignored the remark and instead turned to Ryoma.

"Kid, I'm still waiting for you," Sasabe called arrogantly.

Ryoma served, the man returned the ball with ease. He aimed at the far corner of the court; Sasabe turned and sprinted towards the ball, his racket making contact and sending the ball back.

"30-0! You'll have to do better than that to beat me, kid."

* * *

"He was a former inter-high semi-finalist, he was known as a retriever," said Coach Kato.

"But, that means…" Kachiro trailed off.

"That no matter what kind of ball, he can get to it," said Ann.

"No way," said Kachiro.

"Hai," Said Coach Kato nodding.

* * *

"There's no ball I can't return, kid."

"Hah! You'll get what you deserve, you brat. My dad earned the name "Meguro's Golden Retriever". He is the best," said Sasabe Jr. (AN: Sasabe = Father; Sasabe Jr.= Son).

Sasabe grinned, showing off his golden tooth.

The group that was watching sweat dropped.

"Literally," said Kagome, her left eyebrow twitching.

* * *

"That gold tooth is blinding, but…" said Ryoma.

"If I get more points because of that, it's all good."

"Is that so," Ryoma threw the ball into the air.

_SWOOSH!_ The racket swung through the air,  _WHACK!_

The ball rallied back and forth between the two players.

* * *

"He really is a hunting dog, no matter where the ball goes, he never misses," said Horio.

"Demo it's strange for Ryoma-kun," said Kachiro as he observed the match.

"What do you mean?" asked Horio.

"It's just that, right now, it's Ryoma-kun's service game. Even though he can use the twist serve, why doesn't he use it?" explained Kachiro.

They watched as Ryoma returned the ball, he charged towards the net.

"Echizen's going to the net, he must want to finish this quickly," said Horio.

* * *

"Hah! You fell for it!" Sasabe hit ball.

The ball flew past Ryoma.

* * *

"Passing shot!" Horio exclaimed.

"That's it. The retriever stays at the baseline and when his opponent goes up to the net, he performs his passing shot," said Coach Kato.

"For Ryoma-kun to lose a service game…" Kachiro trailed off.

* * *

"Game Count, 1-0. It's the Meguro's Golden Retriever's lead," Sasabe said, flashing the gold tooth in his mouth.

"Hahaha, and I was worried for no reason. Go Dad! Kick his ass!" Cheered Sasabe Jr.

Ryoma looked up, "I think it's time."

* * *

"Huh? What did he mean," Katsuo asked.

Kage grinned, 'Ryoma was only warming up. It's about time he got serious.'

* * *

Ryoma rushed the net, "Baka! Did you not see my passing shot?"

Sasabe hit the ball, Ryoma swung his racket, hitting the ball, it bounced and hit the fence behind Sasabe.

"0-15."

"Huh!" Sasabe snapped out of his stupor, 'What's going on?'

* * *

"Sugoi Ryoma-sama," Tomoka squealed.

"He was only analyzing his opponent's fighting potential, wasn't he?" Coach Kato asked.

Kage nodded, "Yes, and he was warming up at the same time. The amount of sweat shows his body has warmed up perfectly."

"Yes. Up until then he was learning the retriever's technique. His body was becoming more and more comfortable." Explained Coach Kato.

"So that's why he didn't perform his twist serve!" Kachiro said.

"Ch. So practicing with us didn't warm him up at all?" Horio said.

Kage chuckled.

* * *

'Damn, I thought he'd play like a kid.'

"From the beginning you've stuck close to the baseline, haven't you?"

"What did you say?" Sasabe demanded.

"Why don't you come up to the net once in a while?"

"Shut up! Hu, ugh!" Sasabe served.

"The Retriever's weakness is coming up front."

Hearing this, Sasabe saw Ryoma rush to the net. His eyes widened, he sprinted towards the net, he felt a slight twitch in his leg muscles, than collapsed, the pain in his leg not letting him stand.

At the last moment Ryoma lobbed the ball over his opponent's head.

"Game won by Echizen."

"Ouch! Ow!" Sasabe exclaimed hugging his leg to his chest in pain. Sasabe Jr. rushed over to his father.

"Hang in there dad."

"It's a muscle pull."

"You didn't warm up properly and that's why you pulled your muscle. That's why you couldn't become the inter-high school champion, isn't that right? Both of you should start over from the basics," Ryoma said walking towards the group with the racket over his shoulder, "Right?" he asked Coach Kato, giving him a thumbs up. He smiled and nodded.

"As to be expected from a Seigaku regular, Echizen-kun," Coach Kato said giving him a thumbs up.

Ryoma turned towards the two on the ground and grinned, the light catching his teeth making them sparkle. The two quickly made their way off the court.

Kage grinned, "You showed them."

"Hn."

Kage's eyebrow twitched, he brought his fist and pounded Ryoma on the top of his head.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"'Hn' is not a word!" Kage said. Ann giggled; she knew how much Kagz hated that word. She used to get so pissed off at Sesshoumaru when he used to say that.

When everyone looked at her, Ann shook her head, "Don't ask."

* * *

Everyone sat around the tables, eating the lunches that Tomoka made.

'No matter how annoying she is, her cooking is awesome,' Kage thought.

"Tomoka this is delicious," Kage complimented.

Ann nodded, "This is way better than my cooking!"

Tomoka's eyes sparkled, "You like it? Thank you! I have a lot of siblings so I'm used to cooking for them."

Kage looked to where Ryoma was sitting with a bento and Sakuno standing beside him.

* * *

"A-a-ano, Ryoma-kun, do y-you l-li-like it?" Sakuno asked nervously.

Ryoma didn't even look up, paying attention to the match going on, "Mada Mada Dane."

Sakuno's heart shattered, she grabbed the lunch and ran, shouting "Ryoma-no-baka!" with tears in her eyes.

Ryoma looked down at the table with a puzzled look on his face, "Where did…bento?"

Everyone sweat dropped at that.

"He…"

"Yeah…"

"Wow, I didn't really think anyone could be that…"

"Yeah…"

Kage sighed and shook his head.

"You have no right, you're the same way," Ann whispered to Kage.

"No I'm not."

"You are, once Souta brought his arts and craft's project to show it to you when you were watching tennis and you didn't even look at it! At least you didn't belittle it, but you didn't compliment it either," said Ann.

"That was years ago!" Kage said, but for the life of him he couldn't remember when that was.

"It was three months ago. Sango told Miroku about it over the phone and he told us. Poor Souta…"

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Prince of Tennis.

"He's back."

Two men sat at a corner table in Caribou Coffee, sipping their drinks. The first man's face was cold and emotionless as he relayed the news.

"What! How?" The second man demanded quietly.

The first man shook his head slightly, "All I know is that he completed his sentence and was released."

"Do you think we should tell her?"

"She does need to know, he is looking for her, after all. However, I am concerned with how she'll take the news. We'll take the jet to japan tomorrow morning."

The second man nodded in agreement, "I guess this way she'll be on her guard. We should take the woman with us, she won't be happy if we left her and the brat behind."

"Of course. We'll stay there until the whole mess is over."

The two men stood up and left, their amber eyes hard with resolve.

* * *

"Alright! We will not have afternoon practice, so I will announce the Regulars!" Shouted Coach Ryuzaki.

All the tennis players quickly gathered around to hear who had been made a Regular.

"The captain is Tezuka Kunimitsu, vice captain Oishi Shuichiro. The regulars are: Kikumaru Eiji, Fuji Syusuke, Momoshiro Takeshi, Kawamura Takashi, Echizen Ryoma, and Higurashi Kage. Inui Sadaharu will be the team manager."

"The District Matches are in two days, be prepared, dismissed," Tezuka announced.

* * *

"Ja ne," Kage called as he left the locker room with Ryoma.

"Ja," Katsuo, Kachiro, Horio and Kyoshi called.

"I can't wait for the district matches to begin," Kage said.

"Hai. It will be interesting."

"That it will. Well, ja."

"Ja."

Kage turned left after exiting the school gates as Ryoma turned right.

* * *

"This sucks," Kagome commented. She was walking with Ann towards the burger place where they sometimes ate. She was wearing black cargo pants with a light green tank top and black leather combat boots.

"Hm? What sucks?" Ann asked; she was wearing her school uniform with a white shirt and dark blue skirt.

"The fact that I can't use my signature moves in the tennis matches."

"Why can't you use them? I mean you were a player in America, I doubt they would notice."

Kagome shook her head, "I don't want to risk it. Plus, Ryoma is from the U.S. I don't know if he watched the girl's tennis tournaments. If he did, then my cover would be blown to smithereens in seconds. He could make the connection between my last name and the moves that I used on the court."

"True, but Ryoma may not even remember, and Ryoma is well known in the Tennis world in America, yet he's practically anonymous here. So I'm pretty sure no one would notice. Plus, some of your moves are really awesome, like the mmm-"

Kagome quickly put her hand over Ann's mouth. Ann glared at her and pulled her hand off, "Paranoid, much?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and pointed inside the burger place. Ann looked over and saw the two girls wearing Seigaku uniforms. She raised an eyebrow saying 'What?'

"That is Sakuno and Tomoka, remember," Kagome shuddered a bit, remembering Tomoka's squeal, "They hang around the tennis team enough that they could recognize me!" Kagome turned to go back when Ann grabbed her arm.

"Calm down, Kagz! C'mon! We'll just avoid using your name." Ann dragged a protesting Kagome inside the door.

Ann heard Kagome muttering about evil friends and rolled her eyes at her friend's behavior.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The lady behind the counter asked as they walked up.

"Hmm, hey, what do you want?" Ann asked. Kagome looked up, quickly scanning the menu, "I'll just take a vanilla milkshake," Kagome said, she saw Ann look at her, "I'm not that hungry," she explained.

Ann rolled her eyes, "Well. I'll take the number six combo of a large fries, drink and two burgers."

The lady nodded, quickly ringing up the total.

The voice of Tomoka floated over as they waited for their order.

"So, I said I wanted to make a fan club for Kage-sama and Ryoma-sama, and as soon as I said that, it spread like wildfire! A bunch of girls wanted to join and as the president of the Kage-Ryo-sama fan club I am happy to let any girl sign up! Oh, right! Instead of making two separate fan clubs for Kage-sama and Ryoma-sama, we, the council and I, have decided to have only one, the Kage-Ryo-sama Fan Club!" Tomoka was saying excitedly.

Kagome groaned, "Why me?"

Tuning the voice out, she turned, looking out the window her eyes widened in horror and she unconsciously let out a small noise of disbelief.

"Oh come on!" Kagome whined.

Ann looked over at the words to see a black blur halfway to the restrooms. Ann looked out the window and saw Ryoma opening the door to the burger place.

Ann 's eyes widened and she tried to stifle the giggle that wanted to escape; Kagome just had to be the one person with a secret to keep and one of the people that she had to keep the secret from just entered through the door. She decided to step back and watch what would happen next.

"Um, I'll be right back," Ann told the lady. She turned and headed to the bathroom.

~Inside~

"What happened? Is he gone?" Kagome asked as soon as Ann came through the door.

"He's still there, and I wanted to watch what would happen. Tomoka and Sakuno are there too, so it should be interesting." Kagome narrowed her eyes, but looked out the restroom door with Ann.

~Outside~

"How may I help you?" The lady behind the counter gave Ryoma a small smile as he walked up to the counter.

Ryoma looked down at the menu, 'I think I'll take a combo, let's try number two, yeah, that's what I'll do' Ryoma thought.

"I'll take-" Someone bumped into his back, Ryoma looked up.

"Momo-senpai?"

"Yo, Echizen!"

~Inside~

"Oh no! Momo-senpai's here too!" Kagome groaned; she turned to look at Ann, a visible glint in her eye.

Ann saw the glint in Kagome's eyes, "What?" She was scared to ask.

Kagome opened the door and pushed Ann outside, "Whaa!"

"Go and get rid of them! Or distract them!"

"What! How am I supposed to do that?" Ann struggled to get back into the restroom, "Let me back in!"

"No! Go talk about tennis, or better yet, talk about the tennis line ups!" Kagome succeeded into pushing Ann out. Ann huffed at the closed door and walked over to the counter.

"What are you doing here," Momo asked.

"What do you think I'd be doing in a burger place," Ryoma said.

"Huh! Oh right! Haha," Momo chuckled.

Ann decided it was time to cut in, "Ano, you guys are on the Seigaku tennis team, ne?"

"Yeah, you're Ann, right? You were with Higurashi the other day?" Momo asked.

"Hai, I understand the players have been decided for the district matches, I heard from Kage that you both were regulars, ne?"

"Hai, we are," Momo answered.

"Seigaku's top singles would be the team captain, Tezuka-san, and your #2 singles would be Fuji-san."

"You sure know a lot, but you are friends with Higurashi, so it shouldn't be a surprise."

"Even so, the Seigaku regulars are ultra-famous."

Unnoticed by Ann, Momo had a blush on his face, "Demo, I wonder who's going to play the third singles?"

"Miss, your order is ready," the lady called. Ann looked startled, "Good luck to you all. Ja," she called as she went to get her order.

The two boys looked at her, "Can I take your order?" the lady interrupted.

"A cheeseburger and a large Coke," came two replies at the same time.

"Huh?" Momo and Ryoma looked at each other.

"Two cheeseburgers and a coke," Momo ordered.

"I'll have three cheeseburgers."

"Add a large order of fries."

~Inside the Restroom~

"Well?" Kagome asked as soon as her friend stepped into the restroom.

"I dropped the hint about the third singles spot, they are in a competition where they see who can eat the most and are now ordering," Ann said.

Kagome raised an eyebrow, she opened the door and peeked outside, she saw the two boys sitting at a table with the trays filled with food.

"Let's run, shall we?"

"You run, I'll walk. I am not about to spill our order, oh, here's your vanilla milkshake," Ann said, handing Kagome the shake.

Kagome grinned while taking a small sip. She looked out the door and saw the two engrossed with their food.

"Let's meet at the street courts," Ann suggested. Kagome nodded, opening the door wider, she got a better grip on her cup and raced out in seconds. She cleared the way to the door and ran until she turned the corner.

Ann shook her head as she followed her friend out the door.

* * *

Kagome sighed, "That was close call."

The two girls were sitting on the concrete walls of the tennis courts, watching the doubles' matches going on.

Kagome's stomach growled, "Haha, I guess all that running got me hungry."

Ann rolled her eyes, "I knew this was going to happen, that's why I got two burgers, here," she handed a burger to Kagome, that she dug out of the bag, as she took a bite out of her own. She put the bag in the middle, so that they both could reach the fries.

"Arigato, Ann," Kagome smiled.

"You know…" Ann trailed off.

Kagome groaned, "Ann, if you say anything about the fan club…" Kagome trailed off, leaving the threat hanging in the air.

"Me? Why would I ever do such a thing as tease my friend about her  _girl_  fan club? Even though she herself is a girl," Ann said, stressing the 'girl'.

Kagome glared, "Don't you dare tell anyone, or I will tell about  **that**  incident."

Ann pouted, but the look on her friend's face told her that this was serious, she sighed, "Fine! You know, they're going to find out about it anyway, right?"

"They won't if you don't tell them. They are still in America."

"You mean, you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Sango and everyone are coming to Japan. All I heard was that they have some news to tell you. Miroku-nii wouldn't tell me anything else."

"What! Sango-nee didn't tell me anything! When are they coming?"

"Well, I talked to Miroku-nii day before yesterday, and he said they were coming as soon as possible, which mean, they should have arrived today."

"WHAT!" The players stopped playing tennis and looked at Kagome, she blushed, "Haha, gomen, gomen."

Kagome pulled Ann away from the wall; Ann had just enough time to grab the bag and her food, before Kagome pulled her away.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I kind of forgot until now." Ann saw the look that Kagome gave her, "It never came up, and I honestly did forget," Ann said, trying to defend herself.

Kagome sighed, "What time are they arriving?"

"Um…well…" Ann was not looking forward to this, "Why don't we go to your home…"

"What! They're already here!"

Ann nodded, "They arrived when we were in school."

"So, I'm assuming that Sango-nee, Miroku-nii, and Kohaku-kun have arrived, huh. Well, let's go meet them!"

"Uh…Kagz, one more thing," Ann said hesitantly.

"What?"

"Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are here too."

Kagome's face grew worried, "I wonder why they're here… They rarely ever come for a social visit…"

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Prince of Tennis or Inuyasha; I simply own the plot. The only character I own is Kyoshi as he is an OC. I make no money off of being here or writing stories. I do this for my pleasure and my pleasure alone.
> 
> WARNING: Cursing and swearing in this chapter!
> 
> "Talking"
> 
> 'Thinking'

"There is  _no way_  I'm doing that!"

"Kagome-" A silver haired man with amber eyes tried to reason with her.

"No, Inuyasha, and that's final," Kagome cut in before he could say anything. She crossed her arms and looked at the other five people around the table.

"Kagome, we're just worried about you," Sango said, she was an older girl with brown eyes and long dark brown hair.

"I know that Sango-nee, but I don't want to leave japan," Kagome said.

"Kagome, that bastard has been released from jail, and that's not all. Naraku is out for revenge, he will be ten times more aggressive in getting what he wants since he failed the first time. Especially since he went to jail because of you," a person with silver hair and striking amber eyes said.

"I know that Sesshoumaru," Kagome said, exasperation tainting her voice.

"Kagome, please try to reconsider," Akihiko Higurashi said, "You know that he won't leave you alone and I will not have a repeat of last time."

"Your Tou-san is right Kagome, I-I don't know what we would have d-done if something had h-h-happened to you," Ai Higurashi's eyes began to water and Akihiko put his arm around her shoulders.

"Kaa-san, Tou-san, Sango-nee, Inu, Sesshou, I know that you all are worried, but, there will  _not_ be a repeat of last time. I promise. Plus, now I can defend myself, you all know that. Sesshou's the one who trained me, and everyone knows what he's capable of," Kagome said, trying to make them see reason.

"Look, I love Japan, and just because some bastard is out for my blood, doesn't mean that I'm going to hide away in some hole waiting for said bastard to come and find me, wasting my life worrying for nothing. When it happens, it will happen. Until then, we can't do anything about it," Kagome explained.

Sighs of defeat came from around the table; Sango had a smug look on her face as she held her hand out towards Inuyasha.

Inuyasha grumbled as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. He counted five twenty-dollar bills and gave it to Sango.

Seeing her parents' raised brow and pointed look, she explained, "I made a bet with Inu that Kagome would give a speech about not hiding away and you guys would agree to let her stay in Japan instead of coming back to America to keep her under house arrest. Inu said that you would force Kagome back to America and Kagome would fight instead of talking it out."

"Hey, since the bet is about me, I want 20%," Kagome said, holding out her hand. Sango sighed and handed over a twenty.

Kagome grinned and put the twenty safely in her pocket, discretely giving Sango a low five.

"I can't believe our children and their friends are betting in front of us," Ai said shaking her head.

Akihiko grinned, "Since I'm your father and I'm letting this go, I want 20%."

"And I can't believe your joining in," Ai continued.

Sango smiled, "Don't worry Kaa-san, I'm not giving Tou-san any money."

~o0o~

"KAGOME! Wake up," Sango screamed, shaking her imouto roughly.

"Nngh," Kagome rolled over, pulling the blanket over her head.

Sango pulled the blanket away from Kagome and snatched the pillow before Kagome could get a firm grip.

"Kagome, don't you have the metros today?"

"We are the #1 team, we can be an hour late," Kagome mumbled.

"Kagome, it's 9:30-"

"WHAT! Oh no, I've got to get ready!"

Kagome's eyes flew open as she jumped out of bed and ran inside the bathroom to get ready.

Sango smirked as she walked down the stairs and helped her Kaa-san set the table for breakfast.

"Is Kagome awake," Ai questioned her eldest daughter.

"Yup, and when she comes downstairs, she's going to screeeaam," Sango sing-songed.

Ai sighed and shook her head as she placed the Japanese food on the table.

Kagome took a quick shower while brushing her teeth. She hopped out and quickly dried her hair and braided it. She put on the Seigaku uniform and her cap as she ran downstairs.

She slid into the kitchen and grabbed an apple, she glanced at the clock, '8:45, I have to hurry…Wait, what?'

Her thoughts came to a halt as her gaze doubled back to the clock, 8:45.

"SANGO!"

"Kagome, I'm right here, there is no need to shout," Sango said in a mocking tone, but stopped as she saw her imouto or rather otooto.

"Kagome, no fighting and don't scream," Ai scolded, "Sango, don't mock your sister."

"Hai, Kaa-san," they both replied as they sat down and started eating.

"What's the deal with you cross dressing?"

"Oh, that's right! We never finished our conversation, so you don't know," Kagome said, "I'm on the Seigaku boys tennis team. The first day I went there to see what the teams were like and the girls were awful! Plus the skirt for the girl's uniform was extremely short, I think the principal's a pervert," Kagome explained.

Sango blinked, "They couldn't have been that bad that it drove you to this."

"You have no idea," Kagome stated, "Tell you what, why don't you come to the metros and watch the boys play, then you can come by later after school and you can watch the girls play. You can decide then. By the way, outside of family, no one but Ann, and she may have told Kippei-nii, but no one else knows this; when I'm in my boy form, I go by Kage."

Sango hummed, "That's not a bad idea, I can come to pick you up and get there before your practice ends. I'll also bring Miroku with me to watch you guys play today."

Kagome nodded, "I probably won't meet you until after the finals, if at all."

Sango nodded.

~o0o~

"Look, it's Seigaku!"

"I heard they have not one, but two seventh graders on their team."

Tezuka led the way to the registration desk, "I'd like to register Seishun Gauken Academy's eight players."

"As expected, a grand entrance."

'Wow, Seigaku sure is popular,' Kage thought as he took everything in.

~o0o~

"This is the line up that I've turned in to the registration," Inui said, he showed the paper to the other members.

Singles 1: Syusuke Fuji

Singles 2: Kawamura Takashi

Singles 3: Kage Higurashi

Doubles 1: Ryoma Echizen & Takeshi Momoshiro

Doubles 2: Eiji Kikumaru & Oishi Shuichiro

"What! Captain Tezuka isn't playing?"

"Momoshiro and Echizen? Playing doubles?"

"Well that is what they asked for," Inui said, "The coach was undecided until just before registration."

~o0o~

"Eiji," Oishi said.

"Hai," Eiji gave Oishi the towel and received the water bottle in exchange, "Thank you!"

"Wow, they're so in sync! No wonder they're called the Golden Pair," Kachiro said to Katsuo, Horio, and Kyoshi.

They looked over towards Momo and Ryoma.

"Oi, Echizen, get that, will you," Momo said.

"Get what?"

"That towel under your butt!"

"They are NOT in sync," all four said together.

~o0o~

"You know, I never pegged you for a doubles player," Kage commented.

Ryoma shrugged.

"Kage," Ann said as she walked towards the Seigaku regulars. Kage noticed Momo's blush at seeing Ann and smirked.

"Ann. Hey," Kage greeted as he walked over to where Ann was standing.

"The #1 Doubles match will begin. Seigaku's Momoshiro-Echizen pair vs. Gyokurin Izumi-Fukawa pair," announced the voice from the speakers.

"Interesting, and after they lost so badly the other day," Ann commented.

"What do you mean," Kage asked. They were standing a little ways away from the team.

"Well, you know the street courts we always go to? Well, the other night…" Ann said in a low voice so that the others couldn't here. She told Kage all about how Momo and Echizen were beaten in doubles.

They turned their attention back to the game in time to here Momo say, "Let's go with our A-Un strategy."

"There's no such thing as an A-Un strategy in doubles, is there," Kage asked.

"Not that I know of, it must be a secret plan," Ann said.

"I hope they have something up their sleeves for this, no matter how hard you try, you can't learn doubles in two days," Kage said.

"We would know," Ann said with a small smile, "Well, we did still win."

"Barely, and you can't even call it a win. One of the other players broke his wrist so they had to default," Kage said annoyed.

"We were probably worse than those two out there," Kage said, nodding in Ryoma and Momo's direction.

The rest of the Seigaku regulars were listening carefully to their mysterious chibi player. They didn't know much about him and so they were surprised to hear that Kage and Ann were tennis partners before.

"Gyokurin's Izumi to serve," announced the chair judge, and the match began.

"You said they couldn't close the middle, right," Kage asked.

"Mhm, but it seems the weird noises they made are a signal to the other," Ann contemplated, "This is interesting."

"0-30!"

"Oh, no! They left the other side wide open," Kage said.

"It seems that all they've learned is how to close up the middle," Fuji said.

"15-30!"

"Oh my," Coach Ryuzaki said.

"They don't have a clue what to do other than to close the middle," Tezuka said as Kikumaru was trying to hide his snickers.

Kage's lips twitched, "I take it back, we were better than that."

Ann nodded.

Momoshiro and Echizen stood together on the court once again.

~o0o~

"They're getting creamed out there," Kage said, "If one is good at singles, doesn't mean they are also good at doubles."

"40-30!"

"Game to Gyokurin, one game to love!"

"They're behind," Kachiro said.

"Gyokurin has control of the game," Horio exclaimed.

"And no wonder," Inui cut in, "If they are put that much out of position, then no matter how good they are as athletes, getting even a single point will be hard."

"Inui-senpai, is the formation for doubles really that much different from the formation for singles," Katsuo asked.

"What Momo and Echizen are using is the most basic form of doubles. When that form changes, however, Momoshiro and Echizen, who have never teamed up before, end up leaving half of the court wide open. They are each trying to cover up too much of the court. Basically whoever can get to the ball first, hits it, while the other one covers, but in their case, the areas of defense that they are trying to cover is too large, which leave big holes on the court," Inui explained.

"Game won by Gyokurin!"

"Well, I'll see you later," Ann said.

"Ja," Kage replied walking back over to the team.

"Now they both are fighting with each other," Horio said as everyone watched the two glare holes in to the other.

"Seigaku! Warning!"

"Don't worry guys! This is Echizen we're talking about, he'll figure something out," Horio said trying to reassure everyone.

_Thud_ , they looked over to Fuji, "Oops! Gomen." Fuji lifted the bag and a book fell out. Everyone leaned in to see what it was.

"Ryoma-kun's bag!" Exclaimed Katsuo.

"Doubles for Beginners," Kyoshi read out loud.

Everyone looked at Ryoma on the court, "No way!"

"Game won by Gyokurin! Change courts!"

"What a disappointment," Coach said to the two standing in front of her.

"I just can't get the hang of it. I know what to do in my head, but my body reacts differently," Momo said.

"It's not our opponents, it's us. We are beating ourselves and my timing gets thrown off," Ryoma said.

"By whom," Momo asked.

"Like I said, we're beating ourselves," Ryoma said looking away.

Kage shook his head; this was going to be a long match.

"Are you saying it's my fault? You're the one hogging all the balls! You're hitting my balls," Momo exclaimed angrily.

"Stop," Coach Ryuzaki said as she watched the two bicker back and forth.

"Haha, easy win," Fukawa said.

"Piece of cake," Izumi agreed.

'Humph, that's not going to work on these boys,' Coach Ryuzaki thought, but her thoughts were proven wrong as the two glared daggers at their opponents.

Momo and Echizen left to change courts as Coach said, "Maybe we miscalculated, eh Tezuka?"

"Hai," came Tezuka's curt reply.

"Hang in there, Momo, Echizen! It's only the beginning," Oishi shouted.

"They need a strategy, and a good one," Kage said.

Kikumaru hummed in agreement.

Momo served and the ball hit Ryoma's head.

"Fault!"

"Sorry, sorry," Momo said, sheepishly rubbing his head.

"It's no big deal, just serve the ball," Ryoma said, not letting the annoyance show in his voice.

The ball came back, this time Ryoma hit the ball but Momo stepped in front of the ball and the ball hit Momo on the back of his head.

'Oops,' Ryoma thought.

"This is not going well," Kage murmured.

"They're getting distracted," Oishi commented.

"They're not concentrating on the match," Kikumaru said.

"They look awful," Fuji said.

They all looked to the two staring each other down in the middle of the court. Ryoma and Momo walked to the opposite ends of the court and started dragging their rackets to make a line.

"I guess this dream pair isn't much of a dream," Horio said.

"Are they doing what I think they're doing," Kage asked incredulously.

"That depends on what you think they're doing," Fuji replied.

"Momo-senpai, you were thinking the same thing as me," Ryoma said.

"Seems that way," Momo replied with a smirk.

"Let's not make this hard," Momo said.

"Hai, I'll take care of everything that falls on this side and you can take care of everything that falls on your side," Ryoma said with a similar smirk on his face, "And don't even think about coming to this side!"

"Not even if you ask me," Momo said.

"They're going to play singles in a doubles game," Kikumaru said.

After Momo and Ryoma drew the line the tables turned.

"Game to Seigaku!"

"Game to Seigaku!"

"Game to Seigaku!"

"Game, Set, and Match won by Seigaku! 6-2!"

"Alright! They won!"

"Hooray!"

"That is not real doubles," Kikumaru said.

"No, it isn't," Coach Ryuzaki agreed.

~o0o~

"Owwww," Ryoma and Momo said as the Coach pinched their cheeks.

"Who cares if you won! How dare you play such an awful match!" Coach Ryuzaki was fuming as she made the two boys sit on the hard ground.

~o0o~

"Game and Match: Seigaku! 6-0!"

"Man, it ended so quickly," one of the Gyokurin guys said.

"We can't have everyone thinking that the earlier game was actually a doubles game," Kikumaru said.

"Don't mind! We can settle it with singles," Fukawa called.

~o0o~

"Game and Match: Seigaku! 6-0!"

"I can't believe I was beat by a seventh grader," Gyokurin's singles 3 player said.

~o0o~

"Alright! I will atleast salvage one match," Gyokurin's singles 2 player said.

"Taka-san! Remember to relax!"

"Alright! That guy looks beatable!"

"Go easy on me," Kawamura said as they stood on opposite sides of the net.

'Sweet! I'll rip him apart,' Gyokurin's player thought.

"Taka-san! You forgot your racket," Fuji called as he threw the racket to his teammate.

"Oh! Gomen Fuji," Kawamura said as he caught the racket and did a 180.

"ALRIGHT! I'M BURNING! YOU CAN'T BEAT ME! C'MON!"

"Game and Match: Seigaku! 6-0!"

~o0o~

"Game and Match: Seigaku! 6-0!"

Fuji had his usual smile on his face as he went back to the bench.

~o0o~

The two teams stood on opposite sides of the court as the chair judge announced the out come, "Doubles: 2-0; Singles: 3-0! Seigaku wins 5-0! All bow!"

~o0o~

"Game and Match, Kakinoki: 6-0!"

"You are not a weak player, I was just stronger today," Kuki Kicchi from Kakinoki said.

"I wonder what will happen when they play Fudomine," Kage said as he stood to watch the end of the Kakinoki vs. Suzuneyama match.

"Fudomine," questioned Fuji as he came up from behind.

Kage looked at Fuji, "They're playing in the metros this year. Ann, the girl I was talking to, is the captain's little sister," Kage explained.

"Hmm," Fuji said, as he walked over to where Tezuka was standing.

Kage tilted his head, he should be careful around Fuji. One little slip up and it's bye-bye boys tennis team.

Kage decided to watch from afar.

"We're playing Mizunofuchi Intermediate after lunch, huh," Fuji questioned Tezuka.

"Hai."

"Tezuka and Fuji! Are you scouting the opponent together," Kuki said as he walked over to them.

"Fuji, let's go."

"Wait a minute, what's the hurry? I noticed you didn't play today, Tezuka. Is there anything I should know about," Kuki said as he grabbed Tezuka's left arm at the elbow.

"Let go," Tezuka said as he pulled his arm out of Kuki's hold.

~o0o~

"Game and Match: Fudomine!"

~o0o~

"What! Kakinoki lost! But, that can't be, they were candidates for the metros," Momo said.

"But it's true, Momo-senpai! It's up on the match schedule," Horio said.

"They're not even seeded," Kyoshi said.

"So who do we play in the finals," Kikumaru asked.

"Hmm, Fudomine is a completely different team than before. We shouldn't underestimate them," Kage spoke up. He was getting bored so he had his racket out and was bouncing the ball on the rim as he spoke to the others.

"It seems that way, I heard that they weren't allowed to compete last year because of a fight. Do you know anything about it, Higurashi," Kawamura asked.

"Yeah, they got into a fight with their supervisor because he wouldn't let them form a different team. Ann called him a, and this is her words not mine, a 'Bastardizing, motherfucking, lying son of a bitch'."

"Wow," Kikumaru said.

"Language," Oishi scolded.

"Her words, not mine," Kage reminded him.

Inui walked up to the group. As if to prove Kage right he said, "I just went to Fudomine's match. It's a completely different team then last year. All 8th graders, and all of them are new to the team. The key is the team captain, a 9th grader named Kippei Tachibana, who is also they're coach. Also, a completely unknown 8th grader beat Kakinoki's Kuki 6-2."

"It's not a given that we'll win this tournament," Fuji said.

"Seigaku's got nothing to worry about from these new kids," Horio said, "Seigaku's gonna win this!"

"Horio, shut up before you get in over your head, Fudomine is coming this way and you're not exactly being quite," Kage said still bouncing the ball on the rim of his racket.

Horio gulped and spun around.

Tachibana took a look at all the other team members and stepped towards Tezuka.

"You're Seigaku's Tezuka, right?"

"That's right."

"I am Kippei Tachibana and the captain of Fudomine's tennis team," Tachibana said while he held out his hand.

Tezuka shook the hand.

"Let's play a good game," Tachibana said.

"Hai," Tezuka said.

"Wow, they look so tough," Kachiro said.

"What's wrong with you," Kyoshi asked.

"M-my knees buckled," Horio said.

The other three sighed.

Tachibana looked towards Kage and raised an eyebrow, "Ann told me you joined Seigaku."

Kage smirked, "Yes, I imagine she did. Miroku-nii and Sango-nee are here, too, if you wanted to meet them."

"Thanks, I shall," Tachibana said before walking away.

"Wow, that guy in the back is bouncing the ball on the rim of his racket just like Kage," Kachiro said.

"Look at Ryoma! He's doing the same thing," Kyoshi pointed out.

"Huh," Kage said, turning to the four boys standing together.

Everyone sweat dropped at Kage's inattention.

"What with playing doubles and then sitting out, it looks like the stress is getting to him," Inui said.

"If that's why Echizen is doing it, then Higurashi must be stressed, too," Oishi said.

"No, not really. I'm just bored," Kage said.

Fuji chuckled.

'Another 7th grader? I thought that Kagome was the only 7th grader on the team,' Tachibana thought as he looked at Ryoma, 'I wonder if he is as good as Kagome?'

"Let's go," Tachibana commanded, and the team moved out.

~o0o~


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and/or Prince of Tennis. They each belong to their respective owners and I do not make any profit/receive any type of reward for writing this fic.
> 
> WARNING: Cursing (little bit), sexual innuendos (there's one).
> 
> "Talking"
> 
> 'Thinking'

**Last Time:**

"Wow, that guy in the back is bouncing the ball on the rim of his racket just like Kage," Kachiro said.

"Look at Ryoma! He's doing the same thing," Kyoshi pointed out.

"Huh," Kage said, turning to the four boys standing together.

Everyone sweat dropped at Kage's inattention.

"What with playing doubles and then sitting out, it looks like the stress is getting to him," Inui said.

"If that's why Echizen is doing it, then Higurashi must be stressed, too," Oishi said.

"No, not really. I'm just bored," Kage said.

Fuji chuckled.

'Another 7th grader? I thought that Kagome was the only 7th grader on the team,' Tachibana thought as he looked at Ryoma, 'I wonder if he is as good as Kagome?'

"Let's go," Tachibana commanded, and the team moved out.

* * *

**Now:**

"Kawamura-senpai, Fuji-senpai?" Kage called.

Kawamura and Fuji both turned to look at Kage.

"Hai?" Fuji asked.

"You're playing Doubles 1, ne? Watch out for a serve," Kage warned them. This grabbed everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Fuji asked.

"Let's just say they have a very strong serve. Watch out for it," Kage said.

"Can you tell us more?" Kikumaru asked.

Kage shook his head, "I have privileged information on the team and I won't tell you everything, I'm only warning you about this because the serve might injure one of you."

Kawamura and Fuji nodded, "Arigato," they both said and Kage gave a smile in response.

"It's almost time for the first match against Fudomine to begin, let's move," Oishi said.

Everyone moved to go to the courts except Kage. The team noticed this but Tezuka ushered them away and walked over to Kagome.

"Higurashi," Tezuka said.

"I just want to walk around, I'll be there in a few minutes?" Kage asked more than said.

Tezuka nodded and left, leaving Kagome alone.

She walked to the vending machine and got an orange  _Ponta_. The orange  _Ponta_  was her favorite; unfortunately, they didn't have the orange flavor at school so she made do (AN: I'm assuming  _Ponta_ is like _Fanta_ so there is an orange flavor. If not, well, ignore it and change it to a flavor that you like. =D)

She sat on the bench that Ryoma had recently vacated when he went with the team to the courts. There weren't many people around; they were probably watching the tennis matches. She didn't bother watching the first two matches. The Doubles 2 match would go to Fudomine and the Doubles 1 match would go to Seigaku. She knew both teams well enough to make that assumption.

Seigaku's strength relied on their singles match whereas Fudomine was more balanced. However, even if Seigaku was lacking in the doubles area, didn't mean that their Golden Pair was anything to laugh at, Fudomine would lose the second match. Sure, there was a chance that Seigaku would win the Doubles 1, but she knew that Ishida had a move called the Hadokyū and so far no one had been able to return it, then again Ishida hadn't played many people, but the ones he had, hadn't been able to. (AN: On Microsoft word, the suggestion for Hadokyū was hooky. LOL!)

She was glad that she had warned them; if something happened, she would feel guilty that she didn't warn them.

It had been about 15 minutes, she should probably head to the courts or buchou would come looking for her, well, that or he'd send someone, she bet on the latter.

She felt a foreboding feeling settle in her stomach as she came out of her thoughts. Shivers ran down her spine, she looked around, where before there were at least a few people around, now there was practically no one.

"Hello Kagome," A soft, dangerous voice purred from behind her. Her eyes widened, she knew that voice. She quickly stood up and spun around, her braid whipping around to land on her back.

"Naraku," she spit out his name as if it was coated in poison. Her empty can crumbled in her hand as she crushed the life out of it.

A sinister smile formed on his face, "It's been sometime, ne Kagome? I was afraid you had forgotten about me. That wouldn't do at all, now would it?" Naraku purred, his ruby red eyes gleaming maliciously.

Kagome grimaced in disgust, "What do you want you bastard? Why are you here?"

"We still have some unfinished business left," Naraku said as he stepped towards the smaller female, "I thought we should finish it."

"Like hell, you bastard! Get away from me," Kagome said, each of her words dripping with unconcealed venom. She got into a fighting stance that Sesshoumaru had shown her.

Naraku raised an eyebrow, "Oh? The kitten has learned a few new tricks. Too bad it won't help you."

Naraku walked towards her, each step bringing him closer to his prey.

Kagome's heart beat wildly as she backed away, no matter how much she trained, she couldn't stop herself from feeling fear. That night was still etched in her brain as if it had happened just moments ago, she could still remember every detail, every pained scream, every drop of blood that had spilled that night, but her determination to not let the bastard get to her kept her going and along with fear, she felt disgust and hatred towards him.

"Higurashi? What are you doing?" Fuji asked as he came upon the scene and snapped Kagome out of her dark thoughts.

"O! Chibi," Kikumaru called as he walked towards Kagome from the direction of the courts.

"Fuji-senpai, Kikumaru-senpai!" Kagome said surprised, 'How much did they hear? Why are they even here? Not that I'm not thankful, but still.' She quickly straightened from her stance.

"Till later, Kagome," Naraku said as he left the way he came.

Fuji and Kikumaru both heard Naraku's farewell.

"Kagome?" Kikumaru asked.

Fuji raised an eyebrow; his blue eyes were open and focused on Kagome.

"I can explain…" Kagome said a little afraid of those crystal blue eyes.

"As much as I would love to hear the explanation of why you have a girl's name, you have to go play in the third singles match," Kikumaru said.

"You mean I was here that long…" Kagome trailed off, 'I thought I was only lying around for a few minutes!'

"You don't want to for-" Kikumaru didn't even get the word 'forfeit' out before Kagome flew by him and on to the courts.

"She'll tell us later, if not because we caught her, but because she's afraid of you, and your open blue eyes, Fujiko," Kikumaru said teasingly as he swung an arm around his friend, whose eyes had closed again, and they both walked to the match.

* * *

"The Singles 3 will now begin: Fudomine's Cameo vs. Seigaku's Kage, Fudomine to serve," announced the chair judge.

Kage was relieved, Cameo had almost won by default, but he had arrived just in time. He needed to blow off some steam and Cameo was the perfect opponent to do it on. 'He is always stepping up the rhythm,' he smiled at the thought.

* * *

"Whoa, look at them go," Horio said in awe, "They're both going so fast, and Kage's not even using the split step!"

Inui was scribbling something in his notebook as he watched the match.

* * *

Kage hit the ball with her special move, Archer's Ploy. The ball spun through the air straight at Cameo before it reached him it spun to the side, going outside the line.

Cameo seeing the ball was going to be out didn't go for it, but as the ball was two feet from the ground it spun around and landed on the white line and stayed there.

"6-1. Game. Set. Match. Seigaku wins," announced the chair judge.

Kage grinned, the two players walked up to the net and shook hands, "Good game, I haven't gone that fast for a long time," Kage commented.

Cameo grinned, "It was nice playing you again, now I can step-up the rhythm!"

Kage laughed.

They both walked off the court, Kage took a deep breath, it was time to tell Fuji-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai about her secret, but first, she would try to get away with it, 'Mwhahahahaha!'

Kage nodded to the coach and asked if he could grab a drink. He looked at Kikumaru and Fuji before he left and knew that they would follow.

At the vending machine, Kage got another orange  _Ponta_ and sat down, waiting for the two players.

She sat at one of the tables they had near the vending machine.

"So, Kagome, time to explain," Kikumaru said cheerfully, Fuji's blue eyes were open and trained on her again. They both sat down on the opposite side of her.

"Kagome is my full name, I prefer to be known as Kage, because Kagome is a girl's name," Kage said.

Fuji and Kikumaru gave her an I-believe-you're-full-of-shit-and-I-can't-believe-you-used-a-lame-excuse-like-that-to-get-out-of-telling-us look.

"Oh, all right! Here's the real deal, but you can't blame me for trying," Kagome pouted.

Kagome took a deep breath, "I'm a girl," she said bluntly.

Kikumaru's reaction was comical, his eyes were bugged out and his jaw dropped to the floor. Fuji's eyes widened and his mouth was slightly hanging open. Whatever they were expecting, it wasn't this. Though, she wondered what they  **were**  expecting...

"I'm proud of myself, I surprised  _the_  Fuji Syusuke," as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Fuji's expression cleared, though his eyes were still open and had a calculating gleam in them.

"Damn it! I wanted to take a picture," Kagome pouted, she turned to Kikumaru, "Oh, come on! It's not  **that**  shocking!"

Kikumaru's expression cleared, "You're right. It's just I thought you were a boy!"

"Why did you join as a boy?" Fuji asked.

"Have you  **seen**  the girls tennis team?" Kagome asked.

"Matte, matte, you're cross-dressing as a boy because of the tennis teams?" Kikumaru asked.

"Ok, so it's not all tennis related, but that is the major one that made me do it. The other reason was the school uniform," Kagome shuddered. At their raised eyebrows, she elaborated, "I think the school's principle is a pervert. No pervert would make the skirts uniform so short," Kagome said.

Fuji and Kikumaru laughed.

"You won't tell the team, right?" Kagome asked hopefully.

Fuji's eyes closed and a smirk graced his handsome features, "No, I won't. However, if they figure it out on their own, I will confirm it."

"I guess that'll have to do... but no helping them!" Kagome sighed; she looked at Kikumaru.

"I won't but on one condition," Kikumaru said.

"What's that?" Kagome asked wearily.

"You have to show us what you look like as a girl," Kikumaru smirked.

Fuji shook his head at his friend. Kagome sighed, "Fine, how about tomorrow?"

Kikumaru grinned and nodded.

"You still haven't told us who that guy was," Fuji said.

"That guy was Naraku Onigumo," Kagome said.

"How do you know him?" Kikumaru asked curiously.

"It's complicated, let's just say he was the bad apple in the barrel," Kagome said, she mentally snorted; he was more like the worm in the bad apple that was in the barrel.

They both looked at Kagome and nodded.

"By the way, I know why Kikumaru-senpai was here, but what about you, Fuji-senpai?" Kagome asked.

"I was dropping Kawamura off at the hospital," Fuji replied (AN: I know Kawamura came back with Fuji, but let's just say he didn't).

Kagome instantly grew worried, "What happened, is he okay?"

Fuji nodded, "He'll be fine, but he broke his wrist trying to return Hadokyū. He returned it twice before we noticed his wrist." (AN: I can't really remember how many times Kawamura returned Hadokyū).

Kage eyes widened, "Wow, I don't think anyone has been able to return Hadokyū even once until now."

Kikumaru nodded in agreement.

"What was that move you used at the end of your match?" Kikumaru asked.

"That was one of my special moves, it is called Archer's Ploy," Kagome said, "Not a lot of people know about the moves that I use because I develop them on my own."

"Wicked! Well, we have to get going! Buchou told us not to take too long," Kikumaru said.

By the time the trio had gotten back, Ryoma had won the match and Seigaku had won the District Matches.

* * *

After Seigaku won, they headed to Kawamura's for a sushi party.

Kagome laughed as Kikumaru ran around like a headless chicken after tasting Fuji's sushi. Kagome was curious, so she tasted one of Fuji's sushi; she munched on it a little bit… everyone waited to see what would happen.

"Meh, kaa-san makes hotter wasabi," Kagome said, inside she was thinking, 'HOT! HOT! HOT!'

The Seigaku regulars' jaw dropped with the exception of Tezuka, Fuji, Inui, Kaidoh, and Ryoma who just looked at her in disbelief, well, Kaidoh hissed and Tezuka had no expression at all.

Fuji's smile widened just a bit as if reading her thoughts, she didn't think anyone noticed that though.

Kagome looked at the time, she needed to get home and tell the others about her meeting with Naraku.

"Ja ne. I need to get home," Kagome said to the rest of the team, Kikumaru and Fuji looked up as Kagome left.

Kikumaru and Fuji looked at the other and nodded. They also said their goodbyes and left after Kagome. They were a little worried for their friend and not because she was a girl, but because of whom they saw passing the restaurant after Kagome left.

* * *

He narrowed his eyes as he watched his little vixen leave her friends. He would get her; she was his and no one else's (AN: Possessive much?).

He followed her waiting for the opportune moment. He knew she was posing as a boy on the Seigaku tennis team; he had done his homework after all.

He saw her turn in to an alleyway and smirked malevolently as he followed her.

* * *

She knew he was following her, from the moment she left the restaurant, she had seen him and she had a plan.

She let her braid loose and pulled it up in a ponytail instead.

She turned in to an alleyway where she put her hand to her thigh and her hand closed around a sleek black gun.

Just as she felt a hand close around her shoulder, she whirled around and cocked the gun at the man's forehead, knocking the offending hand off in the process.

Ruby eyes stared in to her sapphire blue ones.

"Back away unless you want your head to get blown off," Kagome said dangerously.

Naraku smiled, "Now Kagome, is that anyway to treat your future boyfriend and husband?"

"Not even in  **your**  dreams, bastard," Kagome spat, "Back away. I couldn't take my baby out in public, but now, I could shoot you right here, right now, and no one would be the wiser. You deserve a lot worse for what you did."

Naraku didn't move, his smirk still in place, "You couldn't kill me Kagome, not even if you wanted to. You can't kill anyone; you're too soft hearted. You are innocent little Kagome that I've been waiting to taint for a long time."

Kagome's eyes narrowed, "Try me."

"Oh, I intend to," Naraku said crudely while licking his lips.

Kagome's face turned into a disgusted grimace. In one swift movement, Naraku snatched the gun and had his arm around Kagome's neck with his mouth next to her ear. He threw the gun down beside their feet.

* * *

Fuji and Kikumaru watched the proceedings silently, when Naraku took the gun from Kagome, they decided to step in.

"Let go of her," Fuji said, his eyes bore in to Naraku's, his voice dangerously low.

Naraku smirked, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Leave, I can handle myself," Kagome said, she had a plan and they were ruining it.

Fuji raised an eyebrow and Kikumaru said, "Your weapon's gone."

Kagome's anger rose, just because she didn't have a weapon, didn't mean that she was helpless. She'd show them!

'Change of plans,' Kagome thought, 'Time to show idiotic boys how her training with Sesshoumaru had paid off.'

Kagome grabbed Naraku's arm that was around her neck and swung her legs up using his hand as leverage she flipped over him and kicked him on the back of his knees. She elbowed his face, breaking his nose in the process. She punched him a few more times before hitting a pressure point in the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.

She looked at his bleeding and broken face, 'This bastard should be in jail right now,' Kagome thought.

"Just because I don't have a weapon, doesn't mean that I'm helpless. Plus, that gun wasn't real. It's a fake that I made. Remember that next time you jump into an unknown situation," Kagome huffed.

Kikumaru looked sheepish while Fuji just closed his eyes and put a smile back on his face.

"Look, Onigumo is highly dangerous, he was released from prison a few days ago. He could very well kill you, and before you say I could've died, too, I've had training with a very skilled friend. I don't want to have to call the cops and watch them clean your blood off the pavement!" Kagome exclaimed trying to get it through their thick heads exactly how dangerous this was.. She had to admit, she was slightly worried when she saw them. She would  **not**  have a repeat of last time!

"You know, we're not totally helpless," Kikumaru said.

"Kagome, we know how to fight. We get that you're worried and that something bad has happened to you before that makes you worry, but we can take care of ourselves," Fuji said.

Kagome raised an eyebrow but let it go, she would just have to be more careful from now on.

She started walking and the two followed her on either side, she raised an eyebrow.

"We don't know where you live, so we'll have to walk you home so tomorrow we can see how you look like as a girl," Kikumaru explained cheerfully. Kagome rolled her eyes but let it be.

"How much did you two hear?" Kagome asked the two who were walking beside her.

"All of it," Kikumaru replied.

"Oh," Kagome said.

"You wanna talk about it?" Fuji offered.

Kagome shook her head, a sad expression on her face; it was too early, even if it had been at least a year and a half now.

They reached her home and Kagome said her goodbyes, getting a hug from Kikumaru and a pat on the back along with a "Good game" and "be careful" from Fuji.

"See ya tomorrow!" Kikumaru waved as the two left.

Kagome smiled and walked into the house where she saw Inuyasha lounging around, Sesshoumaru was on his laptop, Sango was shooting hoops through a makeshift hoop on the wall, her parents were talking quietly to each other, and Souta and Kohaku were asleep.

"We need to talk," Kagome said.

* * *

Kikumaru and Fuji walked side by side.

"What do you think?" Kikumaru asked his childhood friend.

"Well, it's obvious she's hiding something. Something happened with that Onigumo guy and she's afraid that it'll happen again… to her new friends," Fuji said.

"I'm so curious! I really want to know what happened!" Kikumaru exclaimed. He hated seeing a friend of his so sad.

They both had noticed how sad Kagome had looked when they mentioned talking about what had happened.

"She'll tell us when she's ready," Fuji replied.

Kikumaru grinned, "What are the odds of Kage being Kagome? I have to admit though; I haven't seen many girls her age that talented. Most of them are just chasing boys, or is that only in our school?"

"No, you're right. The name sounds familiar… Kagome Higurashi," Fuji said.

He had heard her name somewhere… but where?

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I'm all caught up! So FFN and AO3 all have the same stories, except for A Beautiful Crystal, which has about 9 more chapters to go.


End file.
